Did Cris Collinsworth shade Jerry Jones when discussing Cowboys coaching job?

During the Dallas Cowboys win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 16, Cris Collinsworth might have shaded Jerry Jones when discussing Mike McCarthy's future.

Cris Collinsworth / Raj Mehta-Imagn Images

A second-half turnaround has greatky increased the chances that Mike McCarthy returns as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in 2025. Throughout this season, it's felt like a forgone conclusion that he would be out after five years thanks to Jerry Jones making him a lame-duck coach.

Jones is suddenly singing the praises of McCarthy now that they've won four of their last five and there's a growing belief that the veteran coach will return for another season.

Whether or not that's the right call is yet to be determined but it sounds like Cris Collinsworth thinks it's the way to go. During the win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday Night Football, Collinsworth openly asked why a coach who won 12 games in three of the past seasons would be on the hot seat.

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He then seemed to throw a subtle jab at Jones, saying "This is not an easy place to be a head coach." His reasoning for this was that Dallas has "a lot of stuff" going on.

"Let's start with Mike McCarthy... If I were tell you that your head coach was going to go 12-5 three out of the last four years that he coached here, is he on the hot seat?... This is not an easy place to be a head coach...." - Cris Collinsworth on the Dallas Cowboys 🏈🎙️ #NFL https://t.co/sZxdiNpnnv pic.twitter.com/zvGfbaD5Cn

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 23, 2024

Collisnworth put a lot of emphasis on the word "stuff," leaving it open to interpretation. It's easy to interpret that he meant Jones since he goes on to discuss how McCarthy went from Green Bay where there's no owner to Dallas where the owner is present at practices and has an opinion on everything.

He added that McCarthy is someone who has the makeup to deal with such a situation whereas a coordinator such as Ben Johnson might need experience before jumping into these "deep waters."

Jul 26, 2024; Oxnard, CA, USA; Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones during training camp at the River Ridge Playing Fields in Oxnard, California. / Jason Parkhurst-Imagn Images

Jones has always been a present force in Dallas and that won't change anytime soon. He also refuses to take any blame for the lack of playoff success over the past 30 years. He instead points the finger at the coach, which is why it's fair to ask if this is even a desirable job at this point.

Of course, there are only 32 NFL head coaching positions in the world, so someone will want the job if it comes open. But they better be ready to deal with a lot of "stuff."

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