Michael Irvin: Mike McCarthy was the hire the Cowboys needed to make
By John Buhler
Michael Irvin believes the Dallas Cowboys made the right hire at head coach in Mike McCarthy, thinking he’ll be the catalyst to get the Cowboys back on top.
The Dallas Cowboys have one of the better rosters in the NFL. However, it has been almost 25 years since “America’s Team” has last played in an NFC Championship.
Fortunately, Cowboys legend Michael Irvin thinks that is about to change, thanks in large part to the hiring of Mike McCarthy as the Cowboys new head coach.
“I think they made a solid move, a great move,” said McCarthy to FanSided‘s Mark Carman. “You know, a lot of people were speculating about bringing in college coaches and a lot of guys’ names came up. But what I thought Jerry needed to do…[was get] somebody that the team can get behind and follow.”
McCarthy comes to Dallas a Super Bowl winner but has a lot to prove after the way things ended with Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. Irvin liked how honest McCarthy was about improving in areas where he felt he was weak, such as in the analytics department and working on being a leader.
“Let’s be real, that’s basically why it did not stay together in Green Bay, working with Aaron Rodgers and everything. So he says he’s been working on those things to make him a better coach and all other aspects he can add. I think it was a good hire.”
Irvin is no stranger to how dangerous a power-play struggle can be to a legacy. He believes that had Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson been able to work things out in Dallas back in the 1990s, the Cowboys would have won more than three Super Bowls that decade. Instead, the two couldn’t make it work and the Cowboys dynasty ended not long after.
It’s something Irvin sees happening again, this time up in New England.
“Man, I’m so sad that the power play is going on,” said Irvin. “It puts me back into dark days for me when in the middle of it all. Jimmy and Jerry had the same thing going on and I’m sitting there, ‘are you guys serious? Like, are we going to do this now? We just won back-to-back Super Bowls and we’re going to do this now?'”
Irvin spoke with Carman on behalf of Frito-Lay‘s ‘Ready for Crunchtime’ campaign. “Crunchtime. Yeah, that’s what it is, it’s Crunchtime,” said Irvin. “It’s Crunchtime all around. I love the double play on it because it’s Crunchtime in the playoffs…and you gotta make sure you’re crunching right in Crunchtime. Make the right calls with what you’re crunching on.”