‘Hard Knocks’ crew is gone and Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy couldn’t be happier
The Hard Knocks crews are gone, and Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy couldn’t be happier.
The five-part HBO series from NFL Films will air the finale on Tuesday, but their cameras are no longer following the team day to day.
McCarthy said the privacy will benefit his team. “I would say it gives you a chance to be more genuine,” he said. “As a coach, you’re protective of your environment because of what you’re trying to develop.”
He joked that the brief flash of dancing he did during a team meeting would be more extensive now that the cameras were out of the room.
“You get away from the two-or three-step breakdancing and you give them the whole thing,” he said.
But McCarthy wasn’t joking about being happy that the film crew is no longer around.
“I think the Hard Knocks experience was a good one. I thought they were very professional. I thought we worked very well together,” he said. “But it’s different having that in your space. And I just don’t think you get a maximum result in a group dynamic activity and the least conversations and interactions with that type of environment.”
Basically, McCarthy said, having cameras in the room alters how everyone acts, talks and reacts.
“There are things you’re able to do and say in a particular space that are important to the individuals in that space and you clearly wouldn’t say them probably exactly like how you would, or maybe behave exactly how you would, or maybe respond exactly how you would,” he said. “I think that’s human nature when there’s 15 cameras in the room.”
That’s on a relationship level. But he was also concerned about the camera crews picking up on his team’s schemes.
“It’s not because we’re doing 75 different things that no one else is doing, it’s football. Everybody just does it a little differently,” he said. “Everybody spends a little more time on this as opposed to that and, to me, that’s all part of the competitive advantage you’re trying to create.
He dismissed the notion, however, that Hard Knocks slowed down his team’s progress.
“We’re not making up for lost time,” he said. “Playing and coaching here is a little bit more of a challenge than some of the other placed I’ve worked. You’ve got more travel, more national TV games, southern climate. Those are things I focus on.”
This story was originally published September 3, 2021 at 11:50 AM.
