If you are concerned about a gap in your resume, and how it will affect an upcoming interview – learn about your options to conceal it.
When Mike McCarthy was introduced as the new head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, he made a surprising admission—he had fibbed to team owner Jerry Jones during his job interview. McCarthy, eager to land one of the most high-profile coaching gigs in the NFL, told Jones he had watched every snap of the Cowboys’ 2019 season.
But when pressed about it during his introductory press conference, he laughed and admitted, “I haven’t watched every play of the season. But you do what you gotta do, right?”
After that, questions began to arise about whether this was the only exaggeration McCarthy had made to secure the job. One of the biggest reasons the Cowboys hired him was his supposed commitment to analytics.
McCarthy claimed that during his year away from coaching, he had dedicated himself to studying modern NFL trends, including data-driven decision-making. He even visited Pro Football Focus to reinforce this narrative. However, once the games began, his coaching style told a different story.
Despite his claims, McCarthy’s in-game decisions often ignored analytical best practices. His poor clock management, questionable fourth-down calls, and conservative approach in key moments suggested he wasn’t applying the data-driven insights he had promised.
Even more telling, he later seemed dismissive of analytics altogether, stating, “Analytics has become a weapon for the media.” Just like his claim about watching every snap, it seems McCarthy’s commitment to analytics may have been more about getting the job than actually changing his coaching philosophy. Cowboys fans expected a modern approach—what they got was more of the same.
This example highlights just how useful lying can be in job interviews—even at the highest levels. People in senior positions, even those who are leaders in their field, continue to see dishonesty as a tool for success. In fact, the more successful someone is, the more likely they are to have lied along the way.
