INDIANAPOLIS — Mike McCarthy is having fun again. The desire to call offensive plays and run an offense where the running game mirrors the passing attack for efficiency is now McCarthy’s responsibility.
The Cowboys head coach was relaxed in two sessions with reporters Wednesday afternoon from the NFL scouting combine, where he discussed his decision to take over the offense.
“Yeah, this is the most fun I’ve had since I’ve been in Dallas,” McCarthy said. “I mean, just to be in the meeting room again with the coaches full-time. We’ve been just going 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and break. Then you’ve been talking nothing but scheme. I haven’t had that. So that part’s different. But then all these great responsibilities here that you have to keep doing, so just got to delegate more. We have a good plan. I think doing this in Year 4 is totally different than it would’ve been doing it in Year 1, especially coming in with the pandemic and everything that we had in Year 1.”
Calling the offensive plays means something else for McCarthy. This can’t fail. Excuses won’t be easily accepted.
The Cowboys enter Year 4 under McCarthy needing to take the next step in their draft and develop program. It’s an almost mandatory affair to end this Super Bowl drought. The business of the NFL isn’t easy, and McCarthy knows that better than anybody. If this fails, then McCarthy’s job security will come up again. It’s unfortunate but it’s the reality of the sport.
He’s got owner Jerry Jones’ confidence to take over the offense, the power to elevate young coaches and the self-confidence to where he’s not worried whom the front office signs in free agency or drafts. There’s a trust between McCarthy and the front office and the coaching staff.
Perfect.
If you thought coaches under Jones don’t have the power to do what they want, check out McCarthy.
He’s got the juice now. It’s something he’s wanted to do when he was hired in 2020 but he took a different approach. He preferred helping offensive coordinator Kellen Moore grow as a play-caller, implementing different practice schedules to keep players fresh and becoming the CEO of the team.
Now, McCarthy will continue the CEO portion but add the play-calling duties. He will move the Cowboys to the West Coast offense. A possible change in the run-blocking schemes from outside to inside, more running plays and a strong emphasis on ball security is the future of the Cowboys’ offense.
“Our complementary football formula, I felt was the best this year of the three years,” McCarthy said. “So I think every three, four, five years into your offense, you need to make pretty good — not significant — but changes and adjustments, tendencies and things like that. I just felt this was a good time to make that change.”
The Cowboys’ fan base can no longer blame Moore for offensive problems in 2023. It’s on McCarthy now. This is the way he prefers it. He went to Jones and said change was needed because he believed that’s the only way this team can grow.
Moore and McCarthy respectfully parted ways despite the issues. Moore wanted to pass more, while McCarthy sought more balance.
McCarthy has the power. Now he can call whatever he wants.
This offseason, McCarthy is spending time at The Star going over the offensive tapes from the last three seasons, finding what plays worked and why. He’s also getting plays into the playbook he’s used for success during his time in Green Bay. He’s already spoken to quarterback Dak Prescott and said the response was positive.
McCarthy is doing Zoom calls with draft prospects instead of face-to-face interviews because he’s hunkered down. He takes his daughter to volleyball games and watches football tapes.
His life more than ever is about the West Coast offense. He spent less than three hours here. He landed on the Cowboys’ private plane, met reporters for nearly 20 minutes, then had an hour-and-40-minute lunch with beat reporters.
He left a downtown restaurant, jumped into an SUV and headed back to Texas.
There is work to be done.
McCarthy is exerting his power more than ever.
He can’t mess this up. There’s plenty riding on it.
“Being a head coach and being a play-caller, you’re a little more in tune with [the running of the team],” McCarthy said. “I don’t desire to be the No. 1 offense in the league. I want to be the No. 1 team in the league with a number of wins and championship.”
