Mike McCarthy may not be the Dallas Cowboys' head coach anymore, but for better or worse his name will continue to be linked to the franchise for a long time. So naturally, when the Cowboys were on the clock, fans were keeping a close eye on his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.
Well McCarthy didn't disappoint — when Dallas made their controversial Tyler Booker selection in Round 1, the former head coach had some surprising comments on Booker, and on the Cowboys organization itself.
The Dallas Cowboys are drafting Tyler Booker
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) April 25, 2025
"I love this pick by the Cowboys..
I loved my time in Dallas and it's a phenomenal organization" ~ Coach McCarthy#PMSDraftSpectacular #DallasCowboys pic.twitter.com/KMie4vYzvV
There's a lot to love about this clip. As fans, it's easy to perceive animosity and bitterness from personalities on our favorite teams when things aren't working out. After all, the McCarthy-Cowboys split was slow, strange, and sloppy. From our perspective, McCarthy would have every right to bash Jerry Jones and the organization. But McCarthy is a total class act about it, and it really sounds genuine when he speaks fondly about Dallas — especially because it's something that McAfee seems to suggest McCarthy has been saying to him behind the scenes all week. This isn't just some hollow comment for good PR.
The other interesting thing is that McCarthy loves the Booker pick.
Now, McCarthy's judgement on rookie talent obviously isn't without flaw. He probably loved the Mazi Smith pick. But keep in mind that McCarthy was the Cowboys' head coach for the selections of CeeDee Lamb, Micah Parsons and Tyler Smith.
This isn't to say "ignore all the other analysis floating around and love the pick because McCarthy said it was good." But this should at least give Cowboys fans some pause before immediately being salty about the pick like Micah Parsons was.