How Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy ranks in a fan survey

How much do you trust Mike McCarthy? That’s a big question for Cowboys fans going forward. When McCarthy was hired, there was already somewhat of a split about him. On one hand, he had won a Super Bowl and had the Green Bay Packers as perennial contenders for the big game. There was a lot of success in Green Bay. On the other hand, his departure was pretty inglorious, and there were discussions about whether he actually held Aaron Rodgers back with an offense that didn’t maximize his skills.

Still, Dallas needed a shake-up after the long run of Jason Garrett, and McCarthy was coming off a year where he went back to the drawing board to reinvent himself into a modern-day coach. He reevaluated everything and looked to incorporate all the best things he could find. He would be an experienced hand for the Cowboys who also was utilizing analytics and other cutting edge concepts to guide Dallas.

Then 2020 happened. The Cowboys fell flat and couldn’t even win a terrible NFC East. Sure, COVID and injuries made the first-year head coach’s job that much harder. Even with all that, there was still a sense that McCarthy underachieved.

So where does that leave him in the eyes of fans today? Bookies.com did a survey of each NFL’s team fanbase to get a sense of how they felt about their coach. The Cowboys feelings toward McCarthy are decidedly middle-of-the-road.

On the question of: Which NFL coach is the most liked by their own fans?

McCarthy placed 16th, right in the middle of the league. Bruce Arians in Tampa Bay topped the list (no surprise there considering their Super Bowl win). What is a little surprising is Joe Judge of the New York Giants ranked third in being liked by his own fanbase. Giants fans must really like what they’re seeing. Despite winning the NFC East, Washington fans only ranked Ron Rivera 25th, and new Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni is liked dead last by his own fanbase.

The next question was: Which NFL fan base has the most confidence in their coach?

McCarthy once again is in the middle with a ranking of 17th. Joe Judge comes in fifth, while Ron Rivera jumps up to 16th. Nick Sirianni was 30th in this category.

The final questions was: Which NFL coach is the best decision maker?

McCarthy drops to 18th in this category while Judge is fourth, Rivera is 15th and Sirianni is 30th.

The take way from this survey seems to be that New York Giants fans are loving what they are seeing from Joe Judge. Both Mike McCarthy and Ron Rivera received decidedly mixed reviews while new Eagles coach Nick Sirianni is not trusted by his fanbase at all.