Troy Aikman hammers Cowboys' leadership, questions whether job is 'coveted' by coaches

In the wake of the Dallas Cowboys’ decision to let coach Mike McCarthy walk rather than extending his contract, all-time great Troy Aikman has weighed in.

And he was fairly critical of Dallas’ approach at the top.

First, speaking on the set of Monday Night Countdown on ESPN, Aikman noted he was surprised McCarthy is no longer the coach and pushed back on the idea that the Dallas job is a ‘coveted’ opening, even going as far as to suggest that there’s doesn’t seem to be a plan in place at the moment.

“I don’t know that that’s accurate. I mean I do think that the Cowboys are obviously a high-profile team, whoever is head coach of that team is certainly going to draw a lot of attention,” Troy Aikman said. “But I think most football people that take over as a head coach, they want to do it on their terms. That’s hard to do (in Dallas).”

The former Cowboys quarterback, who won three Super Bowls with the franchise in the mid-90s, offered an example.

“If you take a Dan Campbell, for instance,” Aikman said. “Is Dan Campbell Dan Campbell if he’s with the Dallas Cowboys? It’s hard to imagine that he is. It’s hard to imagine that a lot of these coaches might be.”

Troy Aikman didn’t necessarily point the finger directly at any one person in a position of leadership for the organization, but he certainly intimated that it’s a big part of the problem. He also seemed to question Dallas’ ability to land an elite coach given the backdrop.

“Look, I think coaching matters in the NFL. I think we would all agree,” Troy Aikman said. “Coaching matters, players matter. You have to have both. But just bringing in someone, no matter how qualified that coach might be — and I’ll reiterate, I think Mike McCarthy is an outstanding football coach, he’s proven that in this league, the number of times he’s won 10 games or more as a head coach.

“But you also have to empower that head coach. And I think that’s been what has been missing in Dallas since Jimmy Johnson walked out the door.”

How might that get resolved? Well, that’s for Dallas to figure out.

But when you have someone as high profile as Troy Aikman making the case, it’s certainly worth studying and looking into.

“I love the Dallas Cowboys. I played there for 12 years,” Aikman said. “I wish them well. But to say that it’s a coveted job, I’m not sure I would necessarily agree with that.”