Mike McCarthy found the most clever way to get revenge on Cowboys and Jerry Jones

Jerry Jones shocked the NFL when he hired Brian Schottenheimer to be the next head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, replacing Mike McCarthy, whose contract Jones opted not to renew. McCarthy's final year in Dallas was littered with bad injury luck, including to quarterback Dak Prescott, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and even EDGE Micah Parsons. Dallas never had a chance to make the postseason without those three stars completely healthy, it didn't matter who the head coach was.

Yet, even when Dallas was healthy there were obvious flaws in McCarthy's coaching style. And when the games mattered most, those flaws were exposed in embarrassing fashion, like in the NFC Wild Card round against the Green Bay Packers in 2023, Dallas' last postseason appearance.

So no, I don't have much of a problem with the Cowboys moving on from McCarthy. Sometimes a product gets stale. That being said, Dallas needed a better backup plan.

Mike McCarthy helped Brian Schottenheimer get the Cowboys coaching job

Brian Schottenheimer landed the Cowboys coaching gig in part because of his familiarity with the current roster – he was the offensive coordinator after all – and his interviewing skills. Jones was impressed with Schottenheimer's ability to read the room and his vision for the franchise. It turns out he may have had some help.

Per Jay Glazer of FOX, McCarthy helped Schottenheimer prepare for his interview with Jones and the Cowboys. This was a stand-up move by McCarthy, who must value his relationship with Schottenheimer and the Cowboys franchise.

That being said, there's an argument to be made that Schottenheimer was the wrong hire for the moment. Heck, even Jones was surprised by his choice.

“Brian Schottenheimer is known as a career assistant,” Jones said. “He ain’t Brian no more. He is now known as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.”

That's the spirit! Schottenheimer is a career assistant, and seems to fail upwards everywhere he goes. He finally landed his big break coaching the Cowboys, and most importantly is a puppet Jones can control, which is exactly what the Dallas owner wants, though he won't be the first to admit it.

"If you don't think I can operate outside my comfort zone, you are so wrong," Jones said. "This is as big a risk as you can take. No head coaching experience."

Taking a risk doesn't equate to a smart football decision the vast majority of the time, Jerry. So, yes, McCarthy did his friend a solid in interview prep, but that could very well hurt the Cowboys long term.