Cowboys’ Talk Of High Expectations As They Hire New Coach, But They’ve Rarely Reached NFL’s Lofty Levels

Jerry Jones has always been the media’s best friend The Dallas Cowboys’ owner and general manager never met a microphone he didn’t like or an interview he would pass...

(Photo Credit: Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer)

Jerry Jones has always been the media’s best friend

The Dallas Cowboys’ owner and general manager never met a microphone he didn’t like or an interview he would pass on. So on Wednesday, as the team introduced Mike McCarthy as its new coach, Jones got to do a little talking.

McCarthy won a Super Bowl while coaching the Packers and that, Jones said, would be important for the Cowboys because of their “very high” expectations.

Stop. Please.

Everyone has high expectations. Not everyone should.

Mr. High Expectations had Jason Garrett as his coach for 9 ½ years. Result: Three seasons with 10 wins or more, three division titles, two playoff wins (both in the wild-card round).

High expectations? People with high expectations don’t settle for extended mediocrity.

As for Jones? When he forced a parting with coach Jimmy Johnson, who had won two Super Bowls in three seasons, he said hundreds of coaches could have won with the Cowboys and thought he proved it by winning another Super Bowl with Barry Switzer. But that was in the 1990s and the Cowboys have been far more successful off the field, with their glitzy stadium and massive training facility, than on it.

McCarthy’s Packers were a playoff team nine times in his 13 seasons and won at least one game in the postseason in six of those. So perhaps Jones is on the right path. He must know that he has a talented roster that underperformed for Garrett.

High expectations are fine. High expectations without results since the mid-1990s? That’s delusional. His expectations are no higher than anyone else’s when everyone is 0-0.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman