Dallas Cowboys: Why Mike McCarthy wins Coach of the Year

The Dallas Cowboys finished the 2020 season with a disappointing 6-10 record. The primary reasoning for their lackluster record wasn’t an untalented team, or even poor coaching, it was the loss of quarterback Dak Prescott to a season-ending ankle injury.

But critics didn’t just stop there, however. As expected, the criticism eventually found its way to current head coach Mike McCarthy. Despite all the injuries, and the fact the defense tried a scheme change in the middle of a global pandemic, the critics blamed McCarthy. They started rumors that Coach Mac could be “one and done” as the Cowboys head coach. Wow!

Even with all of that nonsense, Coach Mac had the Cowboys in position to still win the embarrassing NFC East with a losing record. This team was “still in it” until the end. Think about that.

Why Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy could easily win Coach of the Year

With a healthy Dak Prescott back, a new defensive coordinator, an offseason full of work and practice, and a full training camp coming up, Coach Mac might not be facing the axe. Instead, he could be facing the Coach of the Year award…

Reason #1 Coach Mac has a proven track record

For whatever reason, Coach Mac doesn’t get enough credit for being a Super Bowl-winning coach and for coaching two of the best quarterbacks in NFL history (Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers). Critics pretend as if Coach Mac had nothing t do with tat success. That he hadn’t won a total of 131 games (125 with the Packers), achieved nine playoff appearances, claimed six division titles in the NFC North, and won a Super Bowl in 13 seasons as the Packers head coach.

Just like those days in the NFC North, McCarthy is blessed to have the best quarterback in the division. We cannot understate the impact of that factoid.

While coaching with the Packers, Coach Mac had a .618 winning percentage playing against the stingy and defensive minded Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears, and the unpredictable Detroit Lions- with then franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford. In other words, Coach Mac coached against some solid competition in the NFC North, unlike how Tom Brady faced the pitiful AFC East for nearly two decades.

Just like he did in the NFC North, Coach Mac is blessed to have the best quarterback in the division. I’ll talk about that later, but we cannot understate the impact of that factoid.

Normally when a coach has the best QB in the division, he wins. And that’s what I see happening with Coach Mac and his high octane offense. If COACH-CLAP-A LOT (former head coach Jason Garrett) can win three division titles with Tony Romo and Dak, then you already know Coach Mac is capable of winning that many and then some.

Besides, Coach Mac is a better coach than Garrett.

Fun fact: Coach Mac was instrumental in Rodgers having a low interception rate because he taught Rodgers how to avoid costly mistakes by getting rid of the ball quicker. Coach Mac is a stickler on the fundamentals of quarterback play and in regards to the footwork, too.

Reason #2 SOS-Strength of Schedule

Dallas has the second easiest SOS (Strength of Schedule) in the league, and best believe they’re going to feast on some vulnerable teams like the lowly Philadelphia Eagles and the Carolina Panthers-just to name a few teams.

Although a team’s actual SOS can completely change once the season starts, it’s safe to say that Dallas can beat at least eight teams on their schedule based off of the fact Dallas has a far better offense. For instance, the Eagles, New York Giants, Washington, Atlanta Falcons, Denver Broncos, Panthers, San Diego Chargers, and Minnesota Vikings are all worth eight wins.

With Dan Quinn as the new defensive coordinator and the expectation of at least a slightly improved defense, there’s no reason why Dallas can’t win 10-11 games, especially when you look at those aforementioned teams. And I didn’t even mention the New England Patriots and Las Vegas Raiders as other beatable teams who are fairly evenly matched.

Reason #3 Dak, stellar offense and full training camp

Plain and simple, Dak is going to help Coach Mac put behind his miserable first year campaign as Dallas coach by winning a bunch of games, winning the NFC East, and making a deep playoff run. As Dak sets the league on fire with his high octane offense and stellar offensive line protecting him, Coach Big Mac can coach games with confidence and ease knowing his offense is going to dominate.

Coach Mac and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore can use all of Dallas’ playmakers to confuse opposing defenses because it has a franchise quarterback that can make every throw, make good decisions, and is a natural born winner.

No disrespect, but Andy Dalton couldn’t do that, and he hindered Dallas’ offense to a large degree. With Dak under center, there are no limitations to what Coach Mac can do with Dak and the offense.

This scenario only happens because Coach Mac will have a full training camp (OTA’s/minicamps included) with Dak, the skill players, and offensive line. For any offense, a full training camp is important, but when your head coach is an offensive minded one, a full training camp is needed to get the offense in sync and in full rhythm to reach its maximum potential.