Cowboys' Jerry Jones on Mike McCarthy Hiring: 'Bottom Line Is, I Heard Bells'

We already knew things went so well between Mike McCarthy and Jerry Jones that the new Dallas Cowboys coach stayed at the owner's house after his interview. 

Apparently, Jones was ready to get hitched after one night. 

"My sister explained to my dad one time when she was explaining why she wanted to divorce," Jones told reporters Wednesday of his decision to hire McCarthy. "Dad loved her husband, and he said, 'What's gotten into you?' And she said, 'I don't hear bells.' He said, 'Bells? Bells? I haven't heard bells for the last 30 years.' The bottom line is that is a dad trying to advise his daughter on the right move.

"But the bottom line is, I heard bells."

McCarthy, who sat beside Jones as the Cowboys owner lauded him at his introductory press conference, made it clear the bromance is mutual. 

"Jerry is telling a story about the purchase of the Dallas Cowboys, and at the end of the story, he leans over to me and he grabs me by the forearm and reaches out to shake my hand and he says, 'You need to be the coach of the Dallas Cowboys,'" McCarthy said. "I jumped up and hugged him. I'll stop right there. We had a hell of time.

"Now that's a moment. And that's a story I'll be telling the rest of my life."

McCarthy will be tasked with replacing Jason Garrett, who was fired after spending a decade as Jones' right-hand man as Cowboys coach. The relationship between Garrett and Jones was at the forefront of the reason the announcement of his dismissal took so long. 

Jones interviewed just two candidates, McCarthy and former Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis, and almost immediately settled on the man who helped develop Aaron Rodgers into a star. McCarthy led the Packers to nine playoff berths in 13 seasons at the helm, highlighted by a Super Bowl XLV victory. Green Bay played for a conference championship under McCarthy four times, something the Cowboys have not done since 1996.

Jones and McCarthy both seemed excited about the prospect of leading an underperforming Cowboys team back to Super Bowl glory. McCarthy spent his year out of football engrossing himself in analytics, hoping to improve a philosophy that grew stale during the latter part of his Green Bay tenure.

Odds are McCarthy and Jones will have a lot more fun together if the bromance breeds on-field success.