Jerry Jones invested more than nine seasons into Jason Garrett, hoping the young coach’s development would yield the franchise’s next Tom Landry.

It didn’t pan out, leaving no doubt the owner’s next hire would come with the label “no assembly required.”

Landing Mike McCarthy is either brilliant or uninspired, depending on which extreme of the social media spectrum you inhabit. In terms of available candidates with NFL experience, none has a more accomplished résumé.

McCarthy won a Super Bowl and six division titles as Green Bay’s head coach. He had assistant stints in Kansas City, New Orleans and San Francisco before his time with the Packers. His credentials are stronger than most of the Cowboys coaches who came before him.

The swiftness of the hire, coming less than 24 hours after the club finally acknowledged it was moving on from Jason Garrett, is more than an endorsement of McCarthy. It speaks to the culture and personnel the Cowboys have in place.

Jerry and Stephen Jones believe their team should be hosting a game this weekend or, at the very least, playing in the divisional round. Those were the expectations. The reason Garrett failed to receive an extension last offseason was so the club could address the issue if he fell short again.

The learning curve a coordinator might require as he makes the jump to head coach holds no allure for the Jones family at this stage. Neither does the transition from being a successful college coach.

Jerry Jones tipped his hand a few weeks ago, saying during one of his twice-weekly radio appearances that college coaches, “have the lowest percentage rate of success.” He went on to say, “you pay a price for somebody to get up to date that hasn’t spent the prior months or years in the NFL.”

That’s one reason Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley isn’t here now.

It’s why Baylor coach Matt Rhule spent Monday welcoming officials from the Carolina Panthers to his home rather than preparing for an interview with Dallas.

Could Riley or Rhule come here and prove to be the right man for the job?

Sure. The same can be said of New England coordinator Josh McDaniels, Baltimore’s Greg Roman or Kansas City’s Eric Bieniemy.

But there’s no assurance, no guarantee. It requires a projection or leap of faith.

There’s less of a leap with McCarthy.

One, or more, of those people could have more success than McCarthy on the NFL level going forward. But can you proclaim with any level of certainty that any of them will?

Ron Rivera, recently hired by Washington, is a proven NFL coach. The pairing of him and Jack Del Rio as defensive coordinator is intriguing.

Is it more qualified than the Cowboys’ likely duo of McCarthy and Mike Nolan as head coach and defensive coordinator?

This is the first, true coaching search ownership here has undertaken in 12 years. That’s when Wade Phillips — who, coincidentally, didn’t have his contract as defensive coordinator renewed by the LA Rams on Monday — was hired to replace Bill Parcells.

There were two ways for the Jones family to proceed with this search: Talk to as many candidates as possible to solicit ideas and assess where Dallas stands as an organization before making the decision, or narrow the focus and target an experienced hand to take over.

The Cowboys took what’s behind door No. 2. They aren’t interested in seeing what McCarthy can become. They hired him because of who he is and what he’s already accomplished.

Garrett never evolved into the next Landry. Can McCarthy? He’s one of only four coaches in league history to lead his team to the playoffs in eight consecutive years. The others are Bill Belichick, Chuck Noll and …

Tom Landry.

It’s a start.

Catch David Moore and Robert Wilonsky as they co-host Intentional Grounding on The Ticket (KTCK-AM 1310 and 96.7 FM) every Wednesday night from 7-8 p.m. through the Super Bowl.

Twitter: @DavidMooreDMN

More on Mike McCarthy