Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy’s latest fine also comes with 2023 penalty

For the second year in a row, Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy has been fined for a practice violation during OTAs. The NFL Management Council decided that the team violated the Collective Bargaining Agreement’s rules about the physicality of offseason work. The Cowboys’ head coach will be fined $100,000, and the team will lose one of their scheduled OTAs for 2023.

Last year, McCarthy had to pay $50,000 and the franchise as a whole was fined $100,000 for having too much contact in their practices. They were among a handful of teams who were only allowed to schedule nine (rather than ten) OTAs due to the rule break. This year, the club will not be fined beyond getting docked an OTA day for the next offseason.

However, given McCarthy’s decisions to shorten practices during offseason programming, that may not be that big of a deal to the head coach. This week, he cut the final two days of the mandatory minicamp for a group bonding event at Top Golf. The coach said that he felt he saw all he needed to see from his players and felt the team had crossed the “finish line” he had set. This is what McCarthy told the press about his choice to cancel practices:

"“I’m a big believer in less volume and more creativity. It’s a coaching principle of mine that I adhere to a good 15-20 years. So it makes you work harder, tight, efficient, going into it. I’ve been in the eight-install mode, probably for a decade now and it works and it definitely works in this new CBA environment.“"

Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy was fined $100,000 for practice violations and lost an OTA day for 2023

The head coach had one main goal for this offseason. That was to complete the team’s eight-phase scheme installation. He felt that had been done after one day of mandatory camp.

McCarthy always tries to do what he feels is best for his team. He stood by his practice decisions last year, and would probably do the same this time around. This is what he told reporters when asked about the fine he received last summer:

"“I think there were seven to nine plays that we looked at as a group, and frankly, the majority of them involved younger players, so to me it’s a learning experience. I think like anything in life, if you’re punished for trying to do too much the right way as opposed to not doing enough the right way, I think that’s a healthy experience to learn from.”"

It’s never fun to lose money, but McCarthy seems to be incredibly satisfied with how his team is looking at this point. Only time will tell how that translates into the 2022 season.