Despite winning 12 games and the NFC East division title, questions about Mike McCarthy's future in Dallas persist.
Even before the Dallas Cowboys reported for training camp today, job security was the first question asked of the coach.
"It's irritating that the first question you ask me has nothing to do with how I do my job," McCarthy told David Moore of The Dallas Morning News. "I show up every day for work to win a championship. How do we win today? That's what I'm asking.
"My viewpoint is it's not a story. It's a media-driven narrative, or at least a narrative driven outside my realm."
Following the Cowboys' playoff exit, owner Jerry Jones didn't immediately declare McCarthy's job safe but later said moving on from the coach wasn't part of the conversation. However, with Sean Payton's availability to return to the sideline next year, it's a storyline that will bubble any time the Cowboys stub their toe during the 2022 campaign.
Despite rumblings outside the building, McCarthy's job security isn't something on which he bothers to spend time.
"How does this affect winning? That's what I ask of players, coaches and staff," McCarthy said. "If it doesn't have to do with winning, it's a waste of each other's time. I don't put any credence into these stories, but my family has to listen to it. I've already spent too much energy on it answering these questions."
Winning cures all ills. The Cowboys haven't had multiple playoff wins in a season since 1995.
Taking over the Dallas Cowboys comes with more attention than other clubs. That includes the coach's job. McCarthy knows it comes with the territory, even if it annoys him.
"Is there more of this talk today than there was 10 years ago?" McCarthy asked rhetorically. "Absolutely. Is there more here than other places? Definitely. That's accurate.
"But I'm here to win a championship. That's what gets me up in the morning."
Winning a championship is the only thing that will keep discussions of McCarthy's future silent.
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