FRISCO, Texas — Coach Mike McCarthy isn’t shy about his goal for his first season with the Dallas Cowboys: win a Super Bowl.
“I think conversation like that frankly, respectfully, is nonsense,” McCarthy said when asked about Super Bowl-or-bust expectations. “If you’re not trying to win the Super Bowl, I don’t know what you’re even doing in this business.
“I think that’s what every team starts their offseason with. The ones that don’t want to talk about it, they’re probably just trying to under-promise, overachieve. But I’ve always been very up front about it with every team I’ve ever coached: We’re in this to win a championship. Make no bones about it.”
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, McCarthy was not around his team until late July, unable to hold a traditional offseason program with a rookie minicamp, organized team activities and a full-team minicamp. Meetings and workouts were held virtually.
He wasn’t using that as a potential excuse. And while the ultimate goal is playing in Super Bowl LV in Tampa, Florida, his immediate focus was Friday’s practice.
“We’re all in a pandemic. Every coach is coaching in this training camp environment,” McCarthy said. “The players are doing a great job with the COVID challenge, and it’s going to be a long, long year, and it’s going to be a huge challenge to get that championship. That’s the reality of it. But at the end of the day, we’re on Install 6, so we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
McCarthy won Super Bowl XLV with the Green Bay Packers at AT&T Stadium, but the Cowboys have not won a Super Bowl — or even played in an NFC Championship Game — since 1995. Since the franchise’s last Super Bowl win, the Cowboys have won just four postseason games.
