Mike McCarthy is back to win a championship, tells Dallas Cowboys fans to ‘buy into us’

Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy still has no real answers for his team’s unconscionable play in Sunday’s 48-32 season-ending loss to the Green Bay Packers that owner Jerry Jones called the worst playoff of his tenure.

McCarthy says his feelings are too raw, and the past few days of questions and uncertainty about his future were emotional for his family.

But he emerged from a meeting with Jones that lasted more than three hours Wednesday with his job still intact for another year, confident in the direction of a program that has won 12 games in each of the last three seasons and with renewed resolve to win the Cowboys a title — all with the understanding that 2024 will be his last and final stand in Dallas if he doesn’t get it done.

“I mean, it’s still raw right now. I’m still a little bit numb,” McCarthy said. “Professionally, this is what I do. It’s tough, no doubt about it. To say it’s not emotional, of course it is. The family part of it is the only thing that concerns me. Everything else, I have great confidence who I am as a man and who I am as a coach. But the personal part of it is a challenge.”

“But I will say I am very confident in the direction. I like where we are as far as moving forward. I’m very confident where I am.”

The professional part is what matters most to Jones and a Cowboys fan base still shell-shocked by the no-show performance at home against the Packers and disillusioned as ever about the future of a franchise that is now heading into a 29th year since it’s last Super Bowl title in 1995.

“We have an unbelievable fan base, and they should be frustrated,” McCarthy said. “We’re extremely disappointed. Disappointed for them. Disappointed in our performance. But my message would be this. We have established a championship program. It’s just not a world championship yet. We know how to win. We know how to train to win. We have the right people. But we have not crossed the threshold winning playoff games.

“I know how to win. We will get over that threshold. I have total confidence in that, and that’s why I’m standing here today.”

McCarthy stood at the podium with no contract extension from Jones. He signed a five-year deal with the Cowboys in 2020 to become the ninth coach in franchise history.

He was hired replace the fired Jason Garrett with the stated charge of getting the Cowboys back to the Super Bowl.

McCarthy won a title in his fifth season with the Packers and believes the Cowboys are on the same trajectory, despite a 1-3 mark in the playoffs over the past three seasons.

“I came here to win a championship,” McCarthy said in a message to fans. “I didn’t come here to get another contract or anything other than that. I came to Dallas to win the world championship. And that’s why I’m standing here. Buy into us.”

McCarthy said there will be changes heading into next season.

Some players won’t be back as the team has 16 unrestricted free agents.

And some coaches might not return as well.

Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn is being courted by five teams for head coaching positions.

“Dan is a highly-valued member of our coaching staff,” McCarthy said. “We’ll go through the process here.”

But McCarthy said the core of the Cowboys will be better for the lessons learned in a disappointing loss when they inexplicably didn’t play up to their standards.

What he puts his hopes on is the play of quarterback Dak Prescott, who led the league with 36 touchdown passes and had an MVP-caliber season with McCarthy calling plays for the first time.

As much as McCarthy believes he can lead the Cowboys to a championship, he remains confident that Prescott is a quarterback who can take them to the Super Bowl.

“I have unbelievable belief in Dak,” McCarthy said. “I think he clearly has another step. This offense has suited him well. The things we were able to improve on, it’s a system built around making the quarterback successful. The growth opportunity, we’re really looking forward to the future, is something that we are excited about.

“Like I said earlier, I believe in Dak Prescott. I think he’s the answer. He’s part of the solution moving forward. I think as difficult as this time is right now, we can work through this emotional period that we’re in. We’ll continue to build off of what he brings to the table.”

McCarthy was relieved that he was allowed to keep his job but said he didn’t go into the meeting with Jones with any nervousness or trepidation.

And he left it in lockstep with the owner on their collective disappointment, bottom-line mission ahead and confidence he can get it done.

“I was just in the moment,” McCarthy said. “I’ll be honest with you, the only thing I’m worried about is my family. I am extremely confident in who I am. I can’t say that enough. I’m confident in what we’ve done here. I have great confidence in what we are building. That’s really how we handled it. We have work to do. The job is not finished. We know that.”