Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy is living on borrowed time. With just one year left on his contract and Sunday’s embarrassing 48-32 Wild Card Round loss to the Green Bay Packers still in the rear-view mirror, the football world had its eye on Dallas, waiting for owner Jerry Jones to pull the trigger.
He shot a blank. For all the frustration of another early-round loss – wasting a career year from quarterback Dak Prescott and routinely falling short in big games – Jones decided not to fire McCarthy. Now, more than ever, McCarthy’s seat is as hot as the Texas heat
Our Mike Fisher asked McCarthy on Thursday at The Star about his “level of job-security trepidation” entering the coach’s Wednesday night meeting with the owner.
“Professionally, this is what I do. It’s tough, no doubt about it. The family part is the only thing that concerns me,” McCarthy said, later adding, “I was just in the moment, frankly. I’ll be honest with you. The only thing I was worried about was my family. I have confidence in myself … The job’s not finished.”
Our impression, based on Fisher’s reporting (see “Cowboys Charade”): Jones never wanted to fire McCarthy and never intended to call Bill Belichick, no matter how many national media outlets “reported” otherwise.