NFL analyst slams Mike McCarthy’s usage of year off to retool before rejoining NFL after Aaron Rodgers tenure - “This is what you come back with?”
Mike McCarthy has always been a topic of conversation since being hired as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in January 2020. The 59-year-old took some time before taking the Cowboys job, and ESPN analyst Marcus Spears questioned it while on 'First Take' recently.
The former Cowboys defensive end commented if McCarthy's time off from the league was helpful at all:
"Remember the whole Mike McCarthy took time off to kind study the offenses, all that. And then this is what you come back with? The same stuff that people were doing like in the nineties in the early 2000s is like, bro come on like you've got to step your game up here."
McCarthy spent 13 seasons as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers but was fired after Week 13 of the 2018 season. He and then-quarterback Aaron Rodgers won a Super Bowl in the 2010 season. Mike McCarthy led Green Bay to the playoffs nine times in his tenure.
Instead of jumping into a head coaching job, he took the entire 2019 season off. He studied up on various offenses in the league, including Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay's.
McCarthy runs the West Coast offense like McVay does, but quarterback Dak Prescott calls it the "Texas Coast."
How has the Cowboys fared under Mike McCarthy so far this season?
Dallas currently sits in second place in the NFC East with a 3-2 record, trailing the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles. The Cowboys won their first two games of the 2023 season by defeating the New York Giants and New York Jets.
Their first loss of the season came on the road to a then-winless Arizona Cardinals in Week 3. Week 4 saw the team bounce back with a blowout win over former Cowboys running Ezekiel Elliott and the New England Patriots at home.
The team lost in Week 5 against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday Night Football by a score of 42-10. It was their third consecutive loss to the 49ers over the past two seasons, including the playoffs. We'll see if McCarthy can lead the Cowboys deeper into the playoffs this season