Jones will soon face an important decision when it comes to the future of McCarthy and his coaching staff.
Jerry Jones and Mike McCarthy have obviously become well-acquainted over the years. The coach has been with the Cowboys since 2020, leading the team to a 49-34 mark with three consecutive playoff appearances from 2021-23.
As the 2024 season comes to a close, Jones admitted Tuesday that he’s learned more about McCarthy through the team’s campaign of struggles. Dallas will end the year with a losing record, missing the postseason for the first time since McCarthy’s first season in charge.
“You learn a lot during adverse times, challenging times. You learn a lot about yourself, but certainly you learn how it is to work with someone,” Jones told 105.3 The Fan (KRLD-FM). “Yes, it’s been that kind of year. I learned a lot, as much as I knew about Jimmy Johnson when we first got involved with the Cowboys. I learned a lot more when we won one football game. It was all good and you’ve got to be able to operate and go forward when times get tough. The game is about that, so yes, I’ve learned a lot.”
Jones will soon face an important decision when it comes to the future of McCarthy and his coaching staff. The Cowboys owner has repeatedly mentioned how he plans on evaluating McCarthy once the regular season ends. When asked if he felt like he needed to make a decision quickly, Jones said he was not under any “unusual” timeframe at all.
McCarthy, Mike Zimmer and the rest of Dallas’ coaching essentially came into the campaign on one-year deals. Jones said he didn’t feel as if the contract situations created distractions for anyone involved.
“I think in regular life, away from coaching, you have most of us that operate without a guaranteed contract for the next year,” Jones said. “To me, I’ve seen people do better as well when they don’t have a contract. Very few people have guaranteed contracts, whether you are successful or not going forward in this world.”