Dallas Cowboys: Jerry Jones hired a known coach, not a popular one

When it came to hiring a head coach, the Dallas Cowboys had the opportunity to pick the best of the best. The Cowboys hired the best coach for this team.

Finally, and after nine years of mediocrity, the Dallas Cowboys gave former head coach Jason Garrett his walking papers. Despite winning three NFC East titles and two playoff games in a six year span, Coach Clapper had four 8-8 seasons and was the epitome of mediocrity.

After the Cowboys allowed Coach Clapper to walk, the Cowboys had a wide range of coaches to select from. Like college coaches Urban Meyer, Lincoln Riley, Bob Stoops, and Matt Rhule. In the NFL, the coaches included Marvin Lewis, Greg Roman, Eric Bieniemy, Robert Saleh, Josh McDaniels, and of course Mike McCarthy.

In other words, the Cowboys had their pick of the litter when it came to selecting head coaches. And since most critics assumed Jerry Jones would hire either Meyer or Riley, ole Jerry fooled us all and hired McCarthy as the new head coach of “America’s Team.

With Big Mac, Jerry saw a golden opportunity to match a Super Bowl winning coach with a Super Bowl caliber team. Jerry knew in his heart of hearts the other coaching candidates didn’t have that and he had to ask himself this question: “Who gives me the best opportunity to win a Super Bowl now and in the foreseeable future?”

Instead of hiring the more glamorous coach (Meyer or Riley), Jerry hired a proven NFL coach with a successful track record to lead his Cowboys. The hiring of McCarthy received more backlash than I expected because Big Mac is damn good coach.

Heck, Big Mac was 7-3 against the Cowboys as the head coach of Green Bay and won a Super Bowl to boot.

I’ll be the first to admit that I was shocked that Jerry hired McCarthy, especially how Big Mac was unceremoniously fired in Green Bay after being criticized by quarterback Aaron Rodgers and for other flaws like having a stale offense.

Everyone expected either a college coach or a hot up and coming offensive coordinator (Bieniemy) to coach the Cowboys because the NFL is more of a pass-happy, high scoring league than a defensive one. And most of the aforementioned coaches fit that profile-definitely Riley, Bieniemy, and Roman.

Just look at the quarterbacks those coaches are currently coaching or have coached: Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes II, Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, and Jalen Hurts. Those particular coaches would have been legitimate.

But at the end of the day, Jerry had to hire Big Mac because he wants to win another Super Bowl like right now. Not in two years, not in three years, and not in four years, but right freaking now.

Jerry knows there isn’t a learning curve with Big Mac because Big Mac has coached two of the best generational quarterbacks in league history in Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers. Big Mac has compiled a 125-77-2 record (10-8 in the playoffs), played in four NFC Championship Games, and won a Super Bowl in 13 years as the Packers head coach.

In 2011, Big Mac went 15-1 in the regular season, only to lose to the eventual Super Bowl Champions New York Giants in the NFC Championship Game.

Big Mac had good teams in Green Bay, but he’s never had a young and talented roster like the one he just inherited. Jerry knows this is an ultra-talented roster with an All Pro offensive line, the best running back in the league (Ezekiel Elliott), an awesome wide receiving corps, and a really good franchise quarterback in Dak Prescott.

Jerry knows Big Mac can do wonders with this team because he saw Big Mac do wonders with those Packers’ teams that were less talented than Dallas’ but always beat Dallas. Jerry knows if Big Mac can with the Packers, imagine how many games and Super Bowls he can win with this team.

To be honest, I wanted Bieniemy as the head coach of Dallas because of his innovative offensive schemes and how he developed Mahomes into one of the best quarterbacks in the league. But I’m beyond happy with Big Mac as Dallas’ head coach.