Zack Martin peeled back the curtain on Mike McCarthy.
Even though Brian Schottenheimer hasn't even led his first practice as Dallas Cowboys head coach, it's hard not to be impressed by the infancy stages of his tenure.
Based strictly on the coaching staff Schottenheimer has assembled and the coaches he chose to move on from, you get the feeling he knows what he's doing.
Between hiring Matt Eberflus as defensive coordinator convincing tight ends coach Lunda Wells to sign an extension, poaching Klayton Adams from Arizona to be offensive coordinator and hiring Derrick Foster as running backs coach, Schottenheimer has hit home run after home run despite getting a late start relative to other new head coaches.
Despite Schotty's promising start, it's too early to say if the Cowboys made the right decision to move on from Mike McCarthy. With that said, a recent quote from Zack Martin at the Super Bowl shed a damning light on McCarthy's final season in North Texas.
Zack Martin gives damning reason why Cowboys couldn't retain Mike McCarthy
"I've got a ton of respect for Coach McCarthy and what he did when he came in here, but for whatever reason something was off this year," Martin told 105.3 The Fan at Radio Row leading up to the Super Bowl. "Things weren't gelling, weren't clicking, and I think that's something Schotty views as A1 importance, to kind of get that fellowship, that brotherhood back in the locker room."
The last thing we want to do is twist Martin's words. It is clear Martin thought highly of McCarthy. He stated as much. However, the all-time Cowboy said outright that the "brotherhood" in the locker room wasn't where it needed to be as the team stumbled to a 7-10 finish.
That isn't to say McCarthy completely lost the locker room. The Cowboys played hard down the stretch despite being eliminated from playoff contention.
CeeDee Lamb battled through a labrum injury until he was shut down for the final two games and Micah Parsons was utterly dominant to close out the campaign. It was seen as a credit to McCarthy that the faces of the franchise fought tooth and nail until the bitter end.
At the same time, though, Martin's quote prove Dallas had to make a change. The first order of business for a head coach is to create and maintain a strong culture. While McCarthy achieved that over his first four years, his grip seemingly waned as the 2024 season rolled along.
Schottenheimer waxed poetic about culture and relationships during his introductory press conference, saying they are more important than X's and O's. While Schotty will have to prove himself in the X's and O's department, the success of a head coach begins and ends with culture.
That is exactly why Martin and several other players have rallied behind Schottenheimer since he was named head coach.
