Mike McCarthy: Dak Prescott's Success Will Be Focal Point of Cowboys Offense

Mike McCarthy spent his entire head coaching career in Green Bay working with Aaron Rodgers, one of the most gifted quarterbacks in NFL history.

It appears he sees similar greatness in Dak Prescott. 

"He’s a great one. … You’re going to be able to run the whole offense and then some. Our offensive system will be built around making the quarterback successful," McCarthy told reporters Wednesday at his introductory press conference in Dallas.

The Cowboys officially named McCarthy as their head coach Tuesday, replacing Jason Garrett after a decade at the helm.

Prescott is coming off a career-best 2019, throwing for 4,902 yards and 30 touchdowns against 11 interceptions. His seismic improvement came under first-year offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, who is expected back in 2020. 

"I'm not really ready to talk about who is on staff let alone who is calling plays. The structure and way we do things will be similar to how I've always done it," McCarthy, who called plays in Green Bay, told reporters. 

McCarthy mentioned adding an analytics component to his decision-making at several points during the press conference. The former Packers coach spent his season out of football engrossing himself in the analytics side of things, hoping to adapt after many felt his style became stale late in his Green Bay tenure.

Staleness was, to many, a hallmark of the Garrett era. The Cowboys finished with a losing record only once under Garrett but won just two playoff games and consistently failed to live up to preseason expectations. McCarthy said he has no misgivings about the expectations for a Cowboys coach.

"The goal will never change here. It's about winning championships," McCarthy said. "But the expectation is going to be trusting the process."

While "trusting the process" is a phrase typically associated with the leanest years of the Philadelphia 76ers last decade, odds are Jerry Jones expects this process to be a quick one. Jones didn't part with his longtime friend Garrett with anything less than a Super Bowl in mind, and McCarthy knows the biggest factor in his landing the job is the ring on his finger.