National analyst picks long-shot Cowboys member to win major award in 2024 NFL season

Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy will be coaching under pressure in 2024 as he'll enter the upcoming NFL season with only one year remaining on his deal.

But you know what they say, sometimes desperate circumstances yield the quickest results. That's probably why former player and scout and current NFL.com analyst Bucky Brooks picked McCarthy as his long-shot candidate to win Coach of the Year.

Below is Brooks' reasoning for the pick.

After another postseason flame-out, Dallas has been written off by many. Despite leading the Cowboys to three straight 12-5 records and a pair of division titles, McCarthy has caught a ton of flak thanks to the franchise's lofty expectations.

But the narrative could change quickly if McCarthy wins 12-plus games again with a weaker roster and a trio of stars (Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons) currently vying for new contracts. The people management and tactical approach needed to navigate a challenging assignment could finally lead the football world to give McCarthy his flowers as a great head coach. - Bucky Brooks, NFL.com

Brooks' point about McCarthy navigating complicated circumstances and keeping the boat on course is a strong one: There's a lot of drama around the Cowboys and if he has this team ready to go amid a contract holdout from the team's star wide receiver, CeeDee Lamb, and uncertainty surrounding quarterback Dak Prescott, he'll deserve the recognition.

What will be interesting if McCarthy is positioned to win the award though is the fact that it will have nothing to do with the playoffs, as these awards are voted for before the postseason kicks off.

So even if McCarthy earns the hardware, it'll do little to ease the minds of a fanbase that won't buy into the hype until the Cowboys prove they can provide different results when it's time to play do-or-die football.

The last head coach to win the award was Jason Garrett following the 2016 NFL season in which the Cowboys went 13-3 and earned the No. 1 seed in the NFC with Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott leading the team as rookies.

Related: Cowboys might be staring at every NFL team's worst nightmare if things don't work out in 2024