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Jimmy, Garrett, McCarthy: The Cowboys Lame-Duck Coach Problem

Originally posted on FanNation Cowboy Maven
By Mike Fisher | Last updated 1/18/24

It can be a powerful and supportive inspiration. Or it can be a distracting and divisive power drain.

The 2024 Dallas Cowboys are about to find out - or even to choose - which will be the result of coach Mike McCarthy working as a "lame-duck'' in the final season of his contract, with no extension planned.

"I didn’t come here for another contract,'' said McCarthy on Thursday here inside The Star, discussing his future in the wake of a meeting with team owner Jerry Jones that resulted in the coach keeping his job. "I came to Dallas to win a world championship and that is why I am standing here."

The thing about "another contract'' is that Jones planned it a few days ago, before "a 50-0 football disaster'' struck, in the form of another playoff failure, this one at the hands of the underdog Packers.

Can the 2024 Cowboys win under McCarthy? The locker room favors the coach. They might "Win for Big Mike.''

Or ... if they down-deep know that he's not the ultimate judge in the building now, nor, maybe, the ultimate judge long-term? That used to happen at Valley Ranch, in part because of the paternal accessibility of Jerry.

Jimmy Johnson once offered to be a "lame duck'' right before his March 1994 divorce from Jones. Jason Garrett was twice a "lame duck,'' with two different results. And now it's McCarthy's turn.

What really happened with Jimmy and with Garrett, and how does it relate to what might happen with McCarthy? The Fish Report and the Fish Podcast was there in 1994 and we're at The Star now. Listen and watch!

This article first appeared on FanNation Cowboy Maven and was syndicated with permission.

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