Jerry Jones’ love for attention didn’t spread to Cowboys best move yet in shakeup

When the Dallas Cowboys announced that they were parting ways with head coach Mike McCarthy after five years when his contract expired on Jan. 13, it did not come as a surprise. Despite a decent 49-35 regular season record, he was 1-3 in the playoffs.

What happened during their coach search turned them into a laughingstock within the NFL circle. They got a late start in their head coaching search following McCarthy's departure. Top candidates like Mike Vrabel had already taken the New England job while Detroit Lions OC Ben Johnson never considered interviewing with the Cowboys and took the Chicago Bears job.

Other teams with head coaching vacancies like the Jets, Saints, Raiders, and Jaguars already had a head start interviewing candidates.

They settled for ostensibly promoting offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, the son of the late coaching legend Marty Schottenheimer as their head coach last Friday afternoon, which goes to show even they knew the hiring was uninspiring. He did not even have any interviews with other teams and his track record as an offensive coordinator, both in college and in the NFL, are not inspiring.

Even worse, in his press conference on Monday, Jones, per usual, made it about himself like he always does, overshadowing Schottenheimer, though he probably appreciated it since nothing "Schotty" as Jones referred his new head coach, said would have appeased the angry, pessimistic fans.

Still, Schottenheimer has a chance to succeed despite dealing with a less-than-ideal owner, who is more interested in maintaining control over the franchise and being in the spotlight than winning.

Will McClay has been a steady presence inside the Cowboys front office even with Jerry Jones calling the shots

It is thanks to Vice President of Player Personnel Will McClay, who signed a multi-year extension on Wednesday.

McClay has been with the Cowboys since 2002 and has steadily moved up within their front office and took over their draft in 2014.

His draft picks include guard Zack Martin, edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence, cornerback Byron Jones, running back Ezekiel Elliott, linebacker Jaylon Smith, quarterback Dak Prescott, linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, running back Tony Pollard, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, cornerback Trevon Diggs, center Tyler Biadasz, edge rusher Micah Parsons, guard Tyler Smith, tight end Jake Ferguson and cornerback DaRon Bland.

Despite Jerry Jones calling the shots, thanks to McClay's draft history, they have been able to keep the team from completely going off rails. McClay staying with the Cowboys is probably the best news the fans could have received. He will be needed more than ever to help retool the roster since they are not expected to be active in free agency again.