McCarthy announced as new Cowboys coach; Jones addresses Garrett departure

SAN ANTONIO (Texas News Radio) — The Dallas Cowboys formally introduced Mike McCarthy as the team’s new coach Wednesday.

“I am anxious and excited to get to work on winning the next Super Bowl for the Dallas Cowboys,” McCarthy stated at The Star in Frisco.

Equally excited about the move was team owner and general manager Jerry Jones.

He said the reason for hiring McCarthy was simple.

“Mike is no stranger to anybody at any level of football, much less the NFL,” Jones stated.

McCarthy’s rationale for accepting the position was simple.

“It’s the Dallas Cowboys. You don’t need to go any farther than that.”

The new coach said the only goal for him is to win a Super Bowl for the Cowboys, something he had done for the Green Bay Packers at AT&T Stadium in 2011.

He told reporters at the announcement that his goal is not to “innovate”, but to continue to evolve on the field with new technology and new ideas on the field.

McCarthy said he planned to have a quarterback-focused offense, but noted having a strong running game is a massively important part of making the overall offense work.

In regards to who will be on his coaching staff, McCarthy said that is still a work in progress.  Jones said all of those decisions will be McCarthy’s to make.

The Cowboys only interviewed McCarthy and former Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis for the opening.

“Between Marvin and Mike, we knew that was going to be a good start for us because we had done so much work before we had even done the interview,” Dallas Cowboys CEO Stephen Jones said at the event.

The younger Jones said McCarthy’s resume was exactly what they were looking for to accomplish their goals.

The matter of Garrett

Former coach Jason Garrett was a major factor in the decision to hire McCarthy and a major issue Jones said he had to resolve within himself.

“We all wanted this to have a very nice — if possible, under the circumstances — soft landing,” Jones said of the process of removing Garrett from the head coach role.

The team owner explained that it was emotionally difficult for him because of the family’s long connection to the team.  He said of the 30 years he has owned the team, he has a Garrett — whether it is Jason, his father or his brother — on the payroll for all but two of those years.

Regardless, he said he had to make the move.

Even before officially deciding to not bring Garrett back, Jones told him he was interviewing McCarthy for the job.

“He said, ‘You’re not going to meeting anybody more any more special than Mike. I love his story, I love him. He’s great,'” the team owner recounted his now-departed coach telling him.

“Just as I’ve been, he’s been one lucky to get to be part of this organization — the Dallas Cowboys — for all of these years and his daddy will be the first to tell you that,” Jones stated.

In the end, the team owner said as much of the blame for the team’s performance can be directed at Garrett, an equal amount should be directed Jones’ way.