How Close Did Mike McCarthy Come To Getting Fired by Dallas Cowboys' Jerry Jones?

The Dallas Cowboys announced head coach Mike McCarthy will return for his fifth year, even after their recent Wild Card collapse. What must Dallas do to find success in 2024?

Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy is living on borrowed time. With just one year left on his contract and Sunday’s embarrassing 48-32 Wild Card Round loss to the Green Bay Packers still in the rear-view mirror, the football world had its eye on Dallas, waiting for owner Jerry Jones to pull the trigger.

He shot a blank. For all the frustration of another early-round loss – wasting a career year from quarterback Dak Prescott and routinely falling short in big games – Jones decided not to fire McCarthy. Now, more than ever, McCarthy’s seat is as hot as the Texas heat.

Our Mike Fisher asked McCarthy on Thursday at The Star about his "level of job-security trepidation'' entering the coach's Wednesday night meeting with the owner.

“Professionally, this is what I do. It’s tough, no doubt about it. The family part is the only thing that concerns me,” McCarthy said, later adding, “I was just in the moment, frankly. I’ll be honest with you. The only thing I was worried about was my family. I have confidence in myself … The job’s not finished.”

Our impression, based on Fisher's reporting (see "Cowboys Charade''): Jones never wanted to fire McCarthy and never intended to call Bill Belichick, no matter how many national media outlets "reported'' otherwise.

OK. So no job worries this week. But what about this upcoming season?

Super Bowl expectations are here, and they won’t expire without taking someone’s job with it. The pressure is on, and McCarthy - who has one year left on his contract and obviously is not presently in line for an extension - knows it.

“I came here to win a championship,” McCarthy said.

The Cowboys are too talented to not generate championship-level excitement, but the flaws of this 2023 team must be improved upon before they are seriously considered as contenders.

Climbing the mountain of the NFC means overcoming teams that run the ball well. The San Francisco 49ers have left destruction in the path of running back Christian McCaffrey. Green Bay wreaked havoc of its own on Sunday. The Dallas defense couldn’t keep up, and it ultimately played a role in its demise.

The Cowboys played nine games against teams that finished the regular season as a top-10 rushing offense by expected points added per play. They finished 3-6, including the abomination of this past weekend.

Speaking of the Buffalo Bills, 49ers, and Packers, all of which followed a similar script, McCarthy acknowledged the improvements necessary.

“The negatives in those games are definitely at the forefront of what we need to be better at,” he said.

Dallas has struggled not only to stop the run, but to run the ball, too. Running back Tony Pollard surpassed 1,000 yards, but the ground game was flat far too often. By success rate, no team stopped the run less frequently than America’s Team. The Cowboys were frequently the less physical team, and it showed.

“We’re not where we need to be in both those areas,” McCarthy said.

It seems winning in the trenches will be an emphasis this offseason. The pass rush is excellent and a turnover-happy secondary will get back its best player – cornerback Trevon Diggs – for next season. Love him or hate him, Prescott will be under center and receiver CeeDee Lamb has a strong enough rapport to keep the offense afloat.

‘Raw & Numb’ Coach Mike McCarthy Boasts of Dallas Cowboys ‘Championship Program'

Until Dallas dictates terms against the best teams in the NFC, the rest of the talent on its roster may not matter. It’s on McCarthy to take this team farther than in years past, and it wouldn't be surprising if a slow start ended things early.

McCarthy, secure for just the moment, knows what his team must improve upon. How they go about that will reveal how long the Cowboys remain his team.