Garrett Podell of CBS Sports recaps covering Mike McCarthy in Dallas
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
I like that music, Donnie, don't you?
I do. I don't know if that was just chosen, if that was just the random rotation or if it was just fitting for this segment.
I think it is fitting. Fan Twitter brought to you by South Hills Kia, Peters Township. Visit them at SouthHillsKia.net. And the text line brought to you by Edgar Snyder and Associates Personal Injury Law Firm. where they always say there's never a fee unless we get money for you. Let's bring on Garrett Padel from CBSSports.com. Covers the Cowboys, does a great job covering the NFL, many different facets. I know he's at the East-West Shrine game. We're going to ask him some stuff about that. Garrett, thanks for taking the time. How are you? I'm great, Joe.
Thank you so much for having me on this Friday. I survived the snowstorm in Dallas this past weekend, and now it's okay to be out and about again. We got 40-degree weather, the sun's shining, life is good.
Man, I'll never forget the ice storm in Dallas when the Steelers were there for a Super Bowl and they haven't been back since. And there's mixed reaction here to the Mike McCarthy hire, whether he'll get them back anytime soon. I wanted to ask you, Garrett, from your time covering the Cowboys, how would you grade Mike McCarthy's tenure there and where did it go wrong and why?
That's a great question, Joe. I think I would give Mike McCarthy's tenure with the Dallas Cowboys over five seasons, give him a B to B plus because when he walked in there after over a decade of Jason Garrett, I mean, this was a team that, uh, was in and out of the playoffs, not really consistently making it. 2020 was kind of a weird year with the pandemic, and he hired Mike Nolan, who he used to serve under as a coordinator, as a defensive coordinator, and they were one of the worst defenses in football. But, you know, he cut bait immediately, brought in Dan Quinn in 2021, which also coincided with the first-run draft pick of Michael Parsons. Boom, three consecutive 12 win seasons. Dak Prescott was the NFL MVP runner up in 2023.
You could argue statistically, maybe should have won that award over Lamar Jackson that year. And three straight 12 win seasons for the first time in Dallas since their 1990s Super Bowl glory years. They only won one playoff game in those three trips, which is what a lot of people in Cowboys land wrung their hands about. And so, obviously, I understand, you know, there's a guy, a friend of mine, Paul, who's a big Steelers fan. You know, he was kind of unsure about it because of the playoff thing. But, you know, they're always... scoring a lot of points. They were the number one scoring offense across those three years from 2021 to 2023. And Dak Prescott, when I've spoken to him about McCarthy over the years, is someone who he felt really helped uplift his footwork and just really command and knowledge of the game running McCarthy's West Coast offense.
So I think there are some things to certainly like if you're a Sears fan and Obviously, from listening to his press conference and from talking to him, Dallas loves Pittsburgh. He had so many stories, bringing Dak in the quarterback room to his parents' house before the 2024 rain-delayed Sunday night football game that Dallas won at the last second. A lot of fun Pittsburgh stories from Big Mike over the years.
So even though Dak Prescott was already into the league for a few seasons, already showing that he was a pretty good quarterback, it sounds like he took that next step with McCarthy. Would you say that's pretty fair to say?
would say that's fair uh dac said he feel felt like he really grew from setting the protection at the line of scrimmage past protection before the snap he felt he really grew as a pre-snap quarterback uh with mike mccarthy and uh mike also gave him a lot more control of audibling and changing different things the line of scrimmage and so he felt really grew in the more cerebral elements of the game under McCarthy. I think you've seen that. I mean, last few years, I mean, look at this past season, right?
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–6:30
2
How would Garrett Podell grade Mike McCarthy's tenure with the Cowboys?
6:30–11:08
3
What impact did Dan Quinn have on Mike McCarthy's coaching staff?
11:08–17:04
4
How did Dak Prescott's performance evolve under Mike McCarthy?
17:04–20:07
Speakers
4 identifiedMore from The Pomp And Joe Show
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