Cowboys' Mike McCarthy: 'I Have No Interest in Being Known as Some Guru Coach'

Coaching the Dallas Cowboys inevitably leads to heavy scrutiny, but head coach Mike McCarthy isn't overly concerned with how he's perceived outside the team.

McCarthy explained his general philosophy to The Athletic's Jon Machota while discussing Dak Prescott's transition to a new scheme under new offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer:

"I love the way we've challenged Dak mentally and more importantly I love the way he's attacked it. He's really handled these changes and adjustments, the input. At the end of the day, the quarterback needs to own the offense. I have no interest in being known as some guru coach or a smart coach. I want smart, Hall of Fame-type quarterbacks."

"The only way to get there is to make them own the offense. And you can see it. He has the personality, but it's just like anything, this is our first year playing the way we want to play and he's done a really good job of taking ownership of that, and with that, the mental challenges. He has knocked it out of the park."

There was a time when the 59-year-old seemingly was preoccupied with his image.

NBC Sports' Peter King reported how "McCarthy has reinvented himself in the 54 weeks since getting fired by the Green Bay Packers." The veteran coach was ready to embrace a more analytical approach and went so far as to visit Pro Football Focus' offices.

In truth, McCarthy didn't change all that much, and the departure of former offensive coordinator Kellen Moore seems to have him leaning even further into his preferred approach.

And when the Cowboys coach talks about his desire to simply lean on "smart, Hall of Fame-type quarterbacks," it's worth noting how his tenure with the Packers—along with his relationship with surefire Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers—steadily unraveled.

In a 2019 piece for Bleacher Report, Tyler Dunne's description of McCarthy contrasts sharply with what the coach himself presented to Machota. One Packers player said he "loved anointing himself as a quarterback guru," and a personnel official echoed the opinion.

"That was McCarthy's big mistake," he said. "He wanted to be The Guy. He wanted to be The Reason. And he wasn't that good."

Sports are a performance-based business, so coaches are judged largely on wins and losses.

If McCarthy is the head coach who ends the Cowboys' lengthy Super Bowl drought, then nobody will care whether he utilized an analytical approach to get there. And there will be no shortage of credit coming his way.