The Cowboys are going with Mike McCarthy as the ninth head coach in franchise history. McCarthy, 56, replaces Jason Garrett, who was officially let go the day before reports of McCarthy's hiring surfaced.
In McCarthy, who spent the 2019 season out of the NFL after getting fired by the Packers in 2018, team owner Jerry Jones gets the man who led Green Bay to a 125-77 record over 13 regular seasons, highlighted by winning Super Bowl 45 in Dallas' home stadium.
For those who wanted the Cowboys to hire a college football great or young pro hotshot, McCarthy might not sound like a real upgrade from Garrett. For those who wanted more consistency from Dallas, though, McCarhty did take Green Bay to the NFL postseason nine times during his tenure.
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Here's examining all the pros and cons of Jones' decision to hire McCarthy:
Pro: Mike McCarthy is a good offensive-minded coach to pair with Dak Prescott.
Prescott showed progress as a passer in 2019, putting the Cowboys' offense on his back and working toward a lucrative, long-term contract extension. He is bordering on elite and has handled the different concepts thrown his way from Garrett, Scott Linehan and Kellen Moore.
Prescott can adapt his physical talent to whatever McCarthy asks of him and will get only mentally tougher as a leader and decision-maker. McCarthy did well with both Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, two QBs with different makeups. Prescott will respond well to McCarthy's brand of West Coast scheming.
Con: Mike McCarthy has not always meshed with his superstar QB.
Part of the reason why McCarthy didn't last with the Packers was a perceived philosophical clash with Rodgers. Given Prescott is a much younger QB and will be adapting to a new system, his absorbing and learning will be the focus first.
But at some point, after the honeymoon, getting-to-know period and as Prescott transitions into well-established veteran, it will be interesting to see how the relationship develops, for better or for worse.
Pro: Mike McCarthy has a lot of experience getting to the playoffs.
McCarthy turned the Packers into a consistent contender in the NFC North. They won six division titles with him.
Along the way, he has burned Jones' Cowboys a few times. His teams played in 18 playoff games. The Cowboys played in only five playoff games with Garrett in 10 seasons.
Cons: Mike McCarthy has a lot of experience losing in the playoffs.
McCarthy did lead the Packers to a great run after the 2010 season. They were an injury-riddled No. 6 wild card, but fueled by a red-hot Rodgers, they beat the Eagles, Falcons and Bears in the NFC before edging the Steelers for Rodgers' only ring.
But that was 10 seasons ago, and the Packers have had numerous opportunities to make a deep run again and haven't done so. In those 18 games, despite those four wins in a single postseason, McCarthy went only 10-8. The standout losses are to the Giants as a 15-1 top seed and blowing a 16-0 NFC title game lead against the Seahawks.
Pro: Mike McCarthy is underrated with his aggressiveness.
McCarthy won't suddenly rein in Prescott from the QB's downfield passing to Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup. He also won't be afraid to trust his team in manageable fourth-down opportunities, especially in the red zone.
Garrett struggled to make the correct, calculated decisions. The Cowboys are expected to incorporate more analytics to help McCarthy know the best buttons to push, while Garrett eschewed that modern thinking.
Con: Mike McCarthy is underrated with his conservatism.
Where McCarthy hurt his team was being stuck in his ways with personnel. He is not the best to adjust and incorporate his best young talent. The great example from the end of his Packers days is the way he held back Aaron Jones because the coach was adamant about the little things the running back was doing wrong.
With new Packers coach Matt LaFleur, Jones exploded for 1,558 scrimmage yards and 19 TDs this season. McCarthy sometimes has trouble thinking outside the box overall and getting creative enough with his play-calling.
Pro: Mike McCarthy knows how to win a Super Bowl.
As Vince Lombardi might say, the only thing is the ring. Jones doesn't need to imagine walking off with the Lomardi Trophy with McCarthy, because he has seen it happen in his backyard. Jones also knows McCarthy's Packers teams got the better of his Cowboys many times in big games.
Jones doesn't like the great unknown, which is why he stuck with the familiar Garrett for so long. McCarthy was the only reasonable available coach with a Super Bowl on his resume.
Con: Mike McCarthy will quickly feel the heat to win another Super Bowl.
With the Packers, McCarthy didn't have to operate in the shadow of one demanding owner. He is not stepping into a situation where he has time on his side. The Cowboys are ready to win big now, and anything less than an immediate return to the playoffs as NFC East champions will be a huge disappointment.
That's the floor McCarthy needs to hit. He was brought in to mold a young, talented team into a champion. McCarthy can't show any shaky leadership out of the gate; he must prove to Jones he can be in complete command right away.
That might be too challenging for a coach who was fired because he failed to meet unrealistic expectations with Rodgers and the Packers.
