"From no ownership to extreme ownership" - ESPN analyst explains Mike McCarthy's struggles in Dallas 

Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy
Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy

ESPN analyst Mike Tannenbaum discussed Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy on the ESPN morning show Get Up. Tannebaum stated that the Cowboys coach left an organization that didn’t have any ownership and went to one where the ownership is extreme.

"Something else is going on here which is this when you talk to people around the NFL, when they leave Green Bay, that's a very unique place. There's no owner, so he's going from no ownership for most of his career to extreme ownership. And you can just tell he's frustrated and he's never dealt with it. And I think what Jerry Jones is doing is he's actually destabilizing the situation, because he's not empowering his head coach, which is you should support them until the day you let them go."

McCarthy spent 13 seasons with the Green Bay Packers (2006 – 2018) and is the second-winningest coach in franchise history (125) behind Curly Lambeau (209).

However, he is first in playoff wins (10) in team history. The 58-year-old coach led the Packers to a Super Bowl victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV by a score of 31-25.

As a head coach with the Packers, McCarthy won the NFC North six times, including four in a row from 2011 – 2014. In the 2018 season, the team fired him after a Week 13 loss to the Arizona Cardinals by a score of 20 – 17. It pushed Green Bay’s record to 4 – 7 – 1 and was replaced by offensive coordinator Joe Philbin.

Tannenbaum has been the general manager of the New York Jets for seven seasons (2006 – 2012), and the team made the playoffs three times in his tenure (2006, 2009, 2010). After that, he was the executive vice-president of football operations for the Miami Dolphins (2015 – 2018).

Mike McCarthy in Dallas

Las Vegas Raiders v Dallas Cowboys
Las Vegas Raiders v Dallas Cowboys

He was hired by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in January 2020 as the team’s ninth head coach in franchise history. McCarthy went 6-10 in his first season on the Dallas sidelines, finishing third in the NFC East division.

This season, the Cowboys went 12 – 5, winning the division and making it to the playoffs. However, the team lost in the Wild Card round to the San Francisco 49ers with a score of 23 – 17.

It marked another playoff loss for an organization that has not made it to the conference championship round since the 1995 season. The question remains -- can the Super Bowl-winning coach can deliver the Lombardi Trophy back to Dallas? We will find out when the 2022 season kicks off.

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