USA TODAY International Edition
Year 1: Inside McCarthy’s Dallas culture
The message was consistent, relayed repeatedly throughout a trying Cowboys season.
Fittingly, come December, it morphed into a winter simile.
“Momentum is like a snowball,” tight end Dalton Schultz said. “You just got to roll it in the right direction, and you’ll see that thing pick up some steam.”
The Cowboys began Mike McCarthy’s tenure in Dallas an unceremonious 3- 9. They now enter their regular- season finale riding three consecutive wins, with only four league teams claiming a longer active streak.
In a weak NFC East, the recent improvement has positioned the Cowboys to capture the division title Sunday if Washington ( 6- 9) loses to the Eagles ( 4- 10- 1) and the Cowboys ( 6- 9) topple the Giants ( 5- 10).
Reasons for Dallas’ glimpse of a turnaround vary, from a softer schedule to a vastly improved turnover ratio. Regardless of how or why, McCarthy embraces what a late- season streak means to the culture he instills at the Star.
“I definitely do believe that success at the end of the season catapults you into your offseason program,” McCarthy said, “and can very well factor into next year.”
McCarthy’s vision
McCarthy speaks from personal experience. A rough start, then late push in an inaugural season?
He need look no further than his arrival in Green Bay in 2006, when the Packers rebounded from 4- 8 to win their final four games. The following season, they lost the NFC Championship Game in overtime.
“Those last four wins ( were) foundation blocks for my time in Green Bay,” McCarthy said, “because it was something that we built on, talked about and emphasized throughout the whole offseason.”
Will Blackmon, a Packers defensive back from 2006 to 2010, remembers McCarthy establishing his principles. McCarthy preached that conflict is good and communication is key to surmounting challenges. He motivated players to practice hard, empowering leaders to take ownership. And McCarthy did not temper winning expectations. Most memorably, during the 2010 offseason that preceded the Packers’ Super Bowl campaign, he altered their meeting room décor. Framed rosters of past Super Bowl champions already lined walls. McCarthy installed an adjacent new board with the word “CHAMPIONS” emblazoned across the top. But its frame was empty.
“He’s basically telling us: ‘ Let’s fill it up this year,’ ” Blackmon told USA TODAY Sports. “So he does have a plan, he does have a vision, he does have a goal. He knows what it looks like.”
Cowboys players, despite tumult, are realizing the same. They had no Oxnard, California, training camp getaway to ingratiate themselves with McCarthy, and vice versa. Most did not meet their coach in person until seven months after he was hired. But McCarthy illustrates on a projector the trend lines he values, from the importance of turnover ratio to how significantly a double- double – his term for scoring touchdowns going into and coming out of halftime — can impact games. He delivers some messages humorously, like saying he would treat players to Whataburger after their Week 16 double- double. Twice, he orchestrated players smashing watermelons the night before a game. He, too, took his turn with the sledgehammer.
“Obviously he’s the head coach, but he’s a guy that you can go up to and just mess around with, talk about whatever,” Schultz said. “He’s very approachable and I think he’s got a good demeanor. Having a guy that’s been out a year, I think he’s kind of hungry to get back in that locker room. And you can tell because every day he steps in there, he’s upbeat, he’s cracking jokes. You can tell he’s enjoying himself.”
Catching fire
McCarthy’s Dallas debut season will undoubtedly be remembered for the instability of COVID- 19 and multiple injuries, including quarterback Dak Prescott’s Week 5 season- ending ankle injury. It might also be remembered for historically bad defense ( most points and touchdowns allowed in franchise history); an inexplicably turnover- prone offense ( 11 games in a row with at least one); and the death of strength and conditioning coordinator Markus Paul, who collapsed in his office two days before Thanksgiving and was pronounced dead the following evening.
But amid adversity, McCarthy and his players identify lessons they hope to channel into future success together.
On the field, McCarthy encourages a more aggressive offensive attack and gives special teams leeway for chicanery. He has attempted 30 fourth- down conversions, compared with an average of 10.4 per season the previous nine years under Jason Garrett. The Cowboys’ record and health bill underwhelm, but unexpected depth has arrived at positions like offensive line – at which eight players landed on injured reserve.
“You have to have a process of making sure they are developing,” McCarthy said. “It definitely helps us for next year. That is how these years go.”
Off the field, McCarthy communicates a standard of hard work and winning, players say, while also considering their emotional needs. When imploring players to avail themselves of mental health resources, McCarthy told them about seeking counseling himself in 1995 after his divorce. He canceled practice on Christmas and after Paul collapsed so players could share highs and lows with loved ones.
“Mike’s a great parent,” defensive coordinator Mike Nolan said. “And he shows that to his football team.”
Owner and general manager Jerry Jones has accepted blame for roster weaknesses ( think: run defenders) and supported McCarthy unwaveringly. Even when the Cowboys sat at 4- 9 without visible sustained improvement, Jones called talk of a one- and- done McCarthy “ridiculous.”
The organization hopes to host a playoff game in January. While that requires Washington to lose Sunday, the Cowboys control just enough of their fate to energize the fan base.
“If you gave up five, six weeks ago … we don’t even want you on our side,” Ezekiel Elliott said. “We are a team of competitors. We weren’t out of it.
“Coach McCarthy said his plan was for us to trend up through the season. And right now, I think we are catching fire at the right time.”