Cowboys' Mike McCarthy: Jerry Jones Wants Me to Coach Team as Long as Tom Landry Did

Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters in a news conference Thursday that team owner Jerry Jones would like to see him stay aboard for as long as coaching legend Tom Landry did, which would mean 26 more seasons patrolling the sidelines.

Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk relayed the quotes:

"As far as my relationship with Jerry, just using his words, we're in an excellent spot. The partnership that we have, he's excited about. He told me a number of times this week that he wants me to coach here as long as coach Landry did. And I said, 'OK, that's a long time.' I feel really good about our relationship. I think or ability to discuss and disagree we do a good job of that, and I think that's important."

McCarthy just finished up his third season in Dallas, where he's gone 30-20 in three seasons. The Cowboys have gone 12-5 in each of their past two campaigns, including an NFC East title in 2021 and an NFC Divisional Round appearance in 2022.

Their last two playoff appearances have ended with one-score losses to the San Francisco 49ers.

No Cowboys coach has been able to reach the NFC Championship Game since 1995, when Barry Switzer led Dallas to a Super Bowl victory. But McCarthy is the only coach since Switzer in 1996 to pilot Dallas to back-to-back double-digit win seasons.

The recent playoff losses certainly sting, but at minimum, Dallas should in theory be contending for the playoffs once again in 2023 thanks to its dominant Micah Parsons-led defense.

As for Landry, he was the first-ever head coach in Cowboys franchise history, piloting the team during its 1960 expansion season. His teams finished 250-102-6 with five NFC titles and two Super Bowl championships under his watch. Landry's teams also made the playoffs each year from 1966-1983 minus one exception (1974).

The Cowboys struggled in his final three seasons, finishing under .500 each time and bottoming out with a 3-13 record in 1988.

After taking over as team owner in Feb. 1989, Jones fired the legendary Landry, ending his coaching career.