Dallas Cowboys make right call with new coaching hires

After a whirlwind weekend that saw the removal of a head coach and the hiring of his replacement, did the Dallas Cowboys make the right call?

Say what you will about the Dallas Cowboys and their front office but one thing is apparent. When they know, they know.

In the approximate span of three days, owner Jerry Jones, executive vice president Stephen Jones, and vice president of player personnel Will McClay excommunicated nine-year head coach Jason Garrett and reportedly replaced him with longtime Packers head man Mike McCarthy.

For the large majority of the fan base, the thought of Garrett no longer roaming the sidelines would be enough to bring them joy. His tenure as the head coach went on too long, ending awkwardly with reports that he continued with the duties of the job, even though most of the world knew his time was done.

There is, of course, that subsection of the fan base that will not be happy no matter who the replacement would have been. If you find yourself in this category, believing the McCarthy’s hire was either the wrong move or too hasty, I’m here to help you possibly reconsider.

This reported hire checks all the boxes of what the Dallas Cowboys need at this very time. If you were in the camp of wanting a young, hotshot college coach like Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley or Baylor’s Matt Rhule, the likelihood that it would have worked is not a strong one.

History is flooded with more failures than successes for coaches who try to make the jump from college to the NFL. Here are just a few instances of how bad that move can go.

Remember Bobby Petrino? While at Louisville, Petrino went 41-9 over four seasons, winning two Conference crowns and the 2006 Orange Bowl.

The Atlanta Falcons snatched him up quickly, signing Petrino to a five-year deal. Taking over a decent team looking to get over the hump after winning 26 games in the previous three seasons, Petrino lasted all of 13 games, going 3-10 and essentially quitting via Post-It note.

How about the great Nick Saban? From 2000-04, Saban went 48-16 at LSU, with two BCS Bowl victories, including a National Championship. He then took over the Miami Dolphins in 2005, went 15-17 and headed back to college where he has stayed since.

If you think these are extreme examples, I’ll leave you with names like Butch Davis (NFL record 24-34), Mike Riley (NFL record 14-34), and Lane Kiffin (NFL record 5-15). All the next big thing at one point. All done quickly, never to return.

The right move was definitely to go with a proven commodity at the highest of levels. Enter McCarthy, owner of one Super Bowl ring, ten playoff wins and 125 regular-season wins in 204 games.

In eight of the eleven seasons that he was pulling double duty as both head coach and play-caller, Green Bay finished in the top 10 in points scored. Nine times, his teams finished in the top ten in yards gained.

McCarthy has also been the guy behind some of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game. Joe Montana, Brett Favre, and Aaron Rodgers. Dak Prescott will certainly continue to mature with the right trajectory with McCarthy at his side.

McCarthy reportedly will bring with him defensive coordinator Mike Nolan. This is another solid move that will only make this team better.

Nolan has been a defensive coordinator for seven teams in 21 years throughout the NFL. In ten of those seasons, his defenses have finished in the top ten in takeaways. That alone should get you fired up, given how glaring of a weakness that has been for the Dallas Cowboys over the past decade.

If you need more to get you psyched, six times (1993, 1997, 2003, 2004, 2011 & 2012) his defenses finished in the top ten in points allowed. Another six times (1993, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2009 & 2010, they finished in the top ten in yards allowed.

Lastly, you can forget about the days of the late-season flame outs. Under Garrett, four times the Dallas Cowboys finished 8-8. At one point during those seasons, they were 7-4 (2011), 8-6 (2012), 6-5 (2013) and 5-3 (2019).

McCarthy, meanwhile, has eight 10-win seasons under his belt with a December record of 35-16. His teams finish the fight if you will.

Dallas has an abundance of offensive stars at McCarthy’s disposal. A budding superstar quarterback, one of the league’s best running backs in Ezekiel Elliott, a dynamic duo at receiver in Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup and one of the best offensive lines in football. The cupboard is full.

The crutch of questionable coaching is now gone. It’s time for the Dallas Cowboys players themselves to prove their hype. September 2020 cannot come fast enough thanks to the right hire by the Joneses.