Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy is betting on himself, not feeling pressure of possible final season

Coach Mike McCarthy certainly didn’t have the look of a dead man walking when he held court with the media at the NFL Owner’s Meetings on Tuesday, first with a press conference at Marriott Grand Lakes, then with a private chat with local reporters walking through the halls of the Ritz Carlton.

The reality of his situation with the Dallas Cowboys is well chronicled.

He is heading into the final year of his contract in 2024 with the assumed charge of getting to the NFC championship game and/or the Super Bowl to continue on as Cowboys coach.

He must do so after failing to advance in the playoffs in each of the past three seasons after compiling 12-5 records in the regular season and he must do with a seemingly lesser roster because of salary cap constraints with an organization still reeling from the most devastating playoff loss of the last 30 years.

And McCarthy has to do with a coaching staff similarly on one-year deals working without a net following the season.

Time and circumstance are seemingly not on McCarthy’s side yet. He is non fazed by the task at hand.

Credit the experience of going through a similar situation in the last year of his deal as well as being engaged in negotiation for a contract extension with the Green Bay Packers in 2010 when the now 60-year old McCarthy responded by winning his first and only Super Bowl title.

McCarthy bet on himself before and is ready to do it again.

“I don’t see it as more pressure,” McCarthy said. “I think it’s just the reality of our industry. That’s what it is. I think it clearly is part of the foundation of why I believe what I believe. It is something that I have expressed to young coaches. You have to bet on yourself.”

“Every single one of us is extremely confident our capabilities, and most importantly the engagement with the opportunity we have. So we’re excited about 2024. We have a lot to be excited about.”

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is not concerned about the added pressure on the coaching staff and expecting them to end a 28-year gap since their last Super Bowl title in 1996 with a roster that is less talented today than the one that ended the season against the Packers.

“I’ve never been around a coach that no matter what his contract was, didn’t put pressure on himself and didn’t have high expectations,” Jones said. “It is in their to blood to want win every drill, to want to win every practice. So I don’t worry about contracts and incentive over in the coaching ranks.”

That is the reality and McCarthy understands as much even when his expectations for the roster going into 2024 have been altered since the end of the season because of finances.

It is something he is used to from his days with the Packers.

He is appreciative of the opportunity before him and its something he has shared with his staff.

“I think you can’t lose sight of the big picture and make no bones about it,” McCarthy said. “I am extremely blessed to be here. I’m very much engaged where my feet are and the opportunities I’ve had personally, I’m very blessed. I never lose sight of that. That’s always been my big picture approach.”

McCarthy would have loved to continue coaching many of the players that have departed in free agency.

But he is excited about the guys the Cowboys have back on the roster and back in the building ready to start the journey all over again.

“We’re all given an excellent opportunity to coach 2024 Dallas Cowboys,” McCarthy said. “And it’s the reality of it is it’s our locker room. It’s the players that we have and the engagement you have. Going in the office Sunday morning at eight o’clock, and walking through the weight room, and you got [tight end Jake Ferguson] Fergie in there with the music blaring. Those are the things that we see. That’s our reality in the way our players are engaged, despite the disappointment of how our season ended.

“And so we’re back to work. We’re back at it.”

At least for one more year.