Despite Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy having success prior to this season, Michael Irvin wants him catapulted out of Jerry World. He also wants his former teammate, Deion Sanders, to be McCarthy’s replacement.
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On Tuesday evening, Irvin hosted a YouTube livestream where he discussed Week 12 of the NFL season and answered fan questions. One viewer asked him if he would consider himself a viable substitute for McCarthy.
Irvin quickly dispelled any such aspirations, saying he solely desires Sanders. He also joked it wouldn’t be fair to the rest of the league if he got the job.
“I would love to coach… [I’d] beat everybody. I’m 3-0 over at Pro Bowl coaching… I’m undefeated. That said, I can’t coach like Deion. Deion’s my man right now.”
Sanders has quickly turned around the Colorado Buffaloes. Before he arrived in 2023, the Buffs went 1-11. Sanders coached them to a 4-8 showing his first year and has them sitting at 8-3 ahead of their 2024 regular-season finale.
Irvin hopes he can orchestrate a similar miracle in Dallas. Thus far, though, Sanders has been adamant about remaining in Colorado for the foreseeable future.
Michael Irvin: “Coaching is about order”
Irvin hasn’t specifically criticized Mike McCarthy while campaigning for Sanders to take the Cowboys’ job. However, it’s clear he doesn’t believe McCarthy has complete control of the locker room. That appears to be his larger concern with Jerry Jones possibly re-signing McCarthy this offseason.
“Coaching is about order. If you can keep everything in order and in alignment… that’s the struggle. It’s not the football stuff. You could do great at that. It’s keeping all that other stuff in order because you are the head coach.”
Dallas won 12 regular season games each of the past three years under McCarthy’s guidance but went just 1-3 in the playoffs. Two of those three defeats came at home following NFC East championships. The Cowboys’ inability to advance deep into the postseason is McCarthy’s biggest shortcoming.
Is that because McCarthy lacks command of his locker room? Is it a failure to appropriately handle end-of-game situations?
Realistically, both aspects play a role to debatable varying degrees. What can’t be debated is Irvin’s confidence that Sanders would get Dallas farther than McCarthy did.
Sanders is tied with Bill Belichick (+600) for the third-best odds to become the Cowboys’ next head coach. Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady (+525) and Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson (+550) are the current favorites.
