‘Everybody is going to turn it up a notch,’ says Dallas Cowboys VP Stephen Jones
If offensive coordinator Kellen Moore had taken a head coaching job, Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy acknowledges he would have taken over play calling duties on offense in 2022.
It is not what he would have wanted to do, but it’s what he would have had to do.
But since Moore is back, after being a finalist for the Miami Dolphins job — a hire that went to former San Francisco offensive coordinator Mike McDaniels — it will be status quo in Dallas next season.
But McCarthy will have a larger role in the offense as far as preparation and game planning heading into what will be a critical third year with the team. The team’s devastating playoff exit at the hands of the 49ers and the questions that the loss spawned about his future as coach all but assures this will be a story line for the remainder of the year.
Team vice president Stephen Jones said there is natural disappointment because the goal is to win a Super Bowl and not just win the NFC East and finish with a 12-5 mark as they did in 2021.
But he said the Cowboys still feel good about McCarthy.
“I think his track record speaks for itself. He’s won a Super Bowl,” Jones said. “He’s been to championship games. I love the way his leadership style is. He’s got a great pulse for our football team and just feel like he’s the right guy for us.”
But the urgency to win makes it crucial for him to be more involved.
“I think he’s more involved than you think he is. Let’s start with that,” Jones said. “But, no, I think he’s going to, knowing we need to take the next step. I think everybody is going to turn it up a notch, if you will.”
McCarthy said his larger involvement in the offense is a natural progression from the first year to the second year to the third year. His initial focus was making things as comfortable as possible for quarterback Dak Prescott and Moore.
“You look at Year 1, the goal is to keep as much of the language and as much fundamental concepts with Dak we felt we could pull forward but more importantly have a philosophy, a structure that I’ve obviously been accustomed to over almost a 30-year period here,” McCarthy said. “But I can say this moving forward that’s where I’m going to be, from a priority, that is my priority moving into Year 3.”
McCarthy’s decision to get more involved is not an indictment of the job Moore has done as the coordinator and play caller.
The Cowboys had the top offense in the league in 2021 and Prescott tossed a team-record 37 touchdown passes.
And while the team struggled in the second of the season as teams changed schemes and made adjustments to muddy the waters for Prescott, McCarthy believes Moore will continue to get better in his calls and design, especially in crucial situations where the Cowboys had issues last season.
“He has three years, the book of how he calls things, more situational, field position and timing, adversity calls, all those things, that’s where the majority of our conversations go,” McCarthy said. ”Frankly, if you look at our numbers, our numbers of productivity were top of the league in a lot of categories, so I mean, how can we do that again.
“But I’m not as interested in being the No. 1 ranked offense in the National Football League. We need to be the No. 1 complementary offense. So that will be the focus moving forward.”
