Twitter reacts to Cowboys hiring Mike McCarthy

The Cowboys front office didn’t waste much time in hiring their new coach; fans wasted no time at all in reacting on social media.

It is a privilege, not a right, to play, coach, and work for the Dallas Cowboys.

Those words adorn the base of a large silver star that sits in a prime location at The Star in Frisco. It’s a key stop/photo opportunity for fans who pony up for the guided tour at team headquarters. To reach the outdoor practice fields, the players’ locker room, the team’s meeting/lecture hall, or the indoor practice arena, it is almost impossible to not pass that star and see those words.

Mike McCarthy is now the ninth man to have earned the privilege to coach the team. After a full week of non-news and foot-dragging, the team finally made the release of Jason Garrett official on Sunday evening. Garrett’s replacement was named less than 18 hours later.

And social media had plenty to say. Many remarked at McCarthy’s interview on Saturday that lasted into Sunday.

Fans and observers alike were quick with the slumber party jokes, theorizing that the two talked offensive schemes and quarterback philosophies over pizza rolls and pillow fights.

But many suspect that McCarthy will, in fact, bring a different approach to the Dallas sidelines, including an analytical component that Garrett himself admitted to never embracing.

Of course, any discussion of McCarthy’s resume as a head coach turns a spotlight on his reputation as a quarterback mentor, having helped develop passers from Rich Gannon to Alex Smith to, most notably, Aaron Rodgers. It is thought his leadership will be a major boost to Dak Prescott, even after his best season as a pro.

Of course, it may take Cowboys fans a while to warm up to McCarthy, after his unique place in recent Dallas history.

Many pointed out the integral role McCarthy played in one of the franchise’s biggest and most controversial moments.

A lot of attention has been given to how McCarthy has spent his time out of coaching. He was fired in Green Bay in December 2018 and was quickly linked to job openings with Arizona, Cleveland, and the New York Jets. He did not interview with the Cardinals, reportedly turned down the Browns gig, and did not land the Jets job. In January 2019, McCarthy announced he would sit out the season.

Yet according to reports, McCarthy actually approached the last twelve months as if he were an active coach. He broke down film, he ran meetings, he crunched numbers, he prepared gameplans. He kept a regular routine and even had a staff of assistants. The only thing he didn’t have was an actual team of players.

It’s hard to watch this and imagine that McCarthy did anything other than blow the Joneses away in his job interview.

While McCarthy is generally seen across the board as a very good coach and a quality hire, many questioned the suddenness with which Jerry Jones pulled the trigger, especially after so many other big names were tossed around as potential candidates. Highly successful college coaches like Urban Meyer, Lincoln Riley, Matt Rhule, and Jim Harbaugh were all thought to be on some hypothetical wish list, yet none were apparently officially interviewed.

After the weekend’s wild card games, it was theorized that Jerry might even make exploratory phone calls to New England and New Orleans to inquire about Bill Belichick and Sean Payton, respectively.

Yet after confirmed interviews with just McCarthy and former Bengals coach Marvin Lewis, a decision was made.

Ultimately, though, last year is last year. Jerry Jones clearly wanted to be right about Garrett; it’s possible he believed that adding Kellen Moore and Jon Kitna to the staff would be enough to help get Garrett over the hump. They were not, at least not in one season. And Jones has decided not to invest any more time in that experiment.

At the time of this writing, there’s no word on which assistants and coordinators might remain on McCarthy’s staff.

Maybe the jury was still out on Prescott, and his performance this year cemented the idea that everything else- including the head coaching position- should be built around him as a long-term fixture. (And maybe McCarthy’s acceptance of the job confirms that the new coach sees Prescott as the real deal.)

But rather than embark on a total rebuild with a coach who still has to learn how to coach in the NFL, the Cowboys are getting a skipper who can take immediate command of an already-promising ship.

The privilege of leading the Dallas Cowboys now belongs to Mike McCarthy. Fans are hopeful that with him will soon come the privilege of seeing a sixth Lombardi Trophy sitting inside the front door at The Star.

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