How Jerry Jones Assessed Mike McCarthy Before Cowboys’ Season

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has always told it like it is, for better or worse, and he’s taking that mindset into the upcoming season.

Jones, while speaking with reporters as the Cowboys get set to begin training camp, publicly backed head coach Mike McCarthy, who enters his third season with the organization.

“I want to be real clear: He wouldn’t be sitting here today if I didn’t think he was the man to lead this team to a Super Bowl,” Jones said, per NFL Network. “He would not be.

Jones added: “And I have choices. That’s not meant to be insensitive to anybody. That’s a fact. … The guy to my right is who I’m convicted about, have been. We’ve certainly have had things we have addressed, and the way we addressed them in the offseason, I think we have successfully put together a staff that, from this vantage point, gives us absolutely the best chance with our makeup and our team to get to the ultimate success.”

McCarthy came under fire for how the 2021-22 campaign concluded in Dallas. The Cowboys, despite earning the No. 3 seed in the NFC, were eliminated by the San Francisco 49ers at AT&T Stadium in the NFL Wild Card Round. Dallas committed 14 penalties in the 23-17 loss.

Additional speculation connecting former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton to the Cowboys also has caused McCarthy’s seat to heat up a bit this offseason. Jones, at least for now, is of the mindset that McCarthy will lead the group throughout the campaign.