OXNARD, Calif. – Even though this is Mike McCarthy’s second season as the head coach of the Cowboys, this is first chance to experience training camp at Oxnard, California and the worldwide media attention that Dallas generates.
McCarthy is an “old school” coach, and he initially feared invaluable plays and schemes could be revealed with all the media scrutiny as he tries to build his team into a championship contender. So imagine his surprise when he found out that every move the Cowboys make in California will be documented for the world to see because Hard Knocks, HBO’s all-access NFL show, is here this year.
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“I just got to be honest, I about wrecked by truck when Jerry called me,” McCarthy said during his State of the Cowboys address on Wednesday in Oxnard. “I was driving through a rain storm, and once I got back on the road... I’m all in. I’m excited about it.”
Head Coach Mike McCarthy joked he almost wrecked his truck when told his team was going to be on Hard Knocks. pic.twitter.com/NiiIbXfzxq
— Greg Simmons (@GregSimmonsKSAT) July 21, 2021
McCarthy added that he feels more comfortable after meeting with the Hard Knocks staff, stating that he “will let them do their job and we’ll do ours.”
This will be Hard Knocks’ third appearance at Cowboys training camp in Oxnard. They first covered Dallas in 2002, a season in which the Cowboys finished 5-11, and again in 2008, when the squad went 9-7. Dallas missed the playoffs in both of those seasons.