Starting this week, scouts, analysts, coaches, front office personnel, and hundreds of hopeful future NFL stars will descend upon Indianapolis, turning the Hoosier State into the epicenter of the football world for a single week. The NFL Draft Combine offers college players the opportunity to raise their draft stock, while also giving teams an up-close-and-personal look at the players they’ll potentially be selecting over the course of seven rounds in the final weekend of April.

Only for Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy and his new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, the look won’t necessarily be too up-close-and-personal. Instead, it will be through a screen at The Star, the Dallas Cowboys’ headquarters in Frisco, Texas.

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy won’t be in Indianapolis for the Combine this year. He and new DC Mike Zimmer will be at The Star because they believe it’ll be best from a work efficiency standpoint. It’s not uncommon. Rams coach Sean McVay last attended in 2020, for example.

Speaking on the decision to remain in Texas with Mike Zimmer instead of flying up to Indianapolis for the week, McCarthy had this to say, per Joseph Hoyt of Lonestar Live:

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy won’t be in Indianapolis for the Combine this year. He and new DC Mike Zimmer will be at The Star because they believe it’ll be best from a work efficiency standpoint.

It’s not uncommon. Rams coach Sean McVay last attended in 2020, for example.

— Joseph Hoyt (@JoeJHoyt) February 23, 2024

“Him and I will have a full week together here and cover a lot of ground with things we’re working on. At the same time, we can still participate in the combine process and have direct contact through video calls and meetings, while having our coaches on the ground there as well.”

It’s not as if Dallas won’t have any presence in Indianapolis. Surely their scouts and other coaches will be doing plenty of work both down on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium, and also behind the scenes, conducting meetings with prospects throughout the week that could potentially help Dallas get over the hump and make their first Super Bowl in nearly thirty years.