Here’s to the search for the next coach of the Dallas Cowboys.
Good luck, prospects. Mike McCarthy gave it a shot, but in five years couldn’t take the franchise any further in the quest for championship glory than his predecessors – including Jason Garrett, Wade Phillips and Bill Parcells – so they are starting over again.
Of course, the drama will be thick. After all, this is Jerry Jones’ team. Following a week in limbo, when Jones and McCarthy engaged in meetings to review another season that turned to dust and project the future, it ended Monday with McCarthy, 61, becoming a coaching free agent and another key job posting hitting the NFL landscape.
Wanted: Head coach for an underachieving team. Lots of exposure attached to the NFL’s most valuable franchise. High salary comes with many perks. Must be willing to operate in the shadow of the league’s highest-profile owner (and GM). Immense pressure to produce tradition-rich franchise’s first Super Bowl berth after 29-year drought (and counting). Final say on personnel moves? Forget it. Comes with foundational talents Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons…and serious salary cap issues. Never mind the fan tours at team headquarters. They come with the culture.
There’s a healthy debate about how coveted the job will be for top-notch coaches – if you caught Cowboys legend Troy Aikman’s take on ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” pregame show, there are significant doubts about that – but somebody’s gotta do it.
NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.
Despite the perceived drawbacks, that the Cowboys job is on that mega stage – “only the big room,” is how Parcells described the lure of coming out of retirement for the gig in 2003 – will be enticing enough as one of only 32 in the league.
McCarthy came with his Super Bowl resume, yet despite getting the best out of Prescott and winning the locker room, the clock ran out. Never mind that the Cowboys (7-10 in 2024, following three consecutive 12-5 campaigns) played hard for McCarthy down the stretch, and all without Prescott, finished at midseason due to a hamstring injury. The compliments from Jones in recent weeks didn’t ensure that the coach, who publicly expressed his desire to return, were not valid clues after all.
In many ways, it seems that the course was set for McCarthy a year ago, when the Cowboys suffered arguably the worst playoff loss in franchise history at the hands of the Green Bay Packers. It also appeared to some degree that McCarthy was set up to fail after his contract wasn’t extended last year. The Cowboys signed Prescott and Lamb to top-market extensions, but they weren’t completed until the just before the start of the season and latter part of training camp, respectively, fueling drama. Even worse, the Cowboys had a miserable time of it during free agency – for instance, Derrick Henry wanted to play for Dallas, where he has a home, but didn’t even get a call for the Cowboys, with Jones contending they couldn’t afford him.
And look at Henry now. The Cowboys sure could’ve used him.
McCarthy ultimately couldn’t deliver the championship run that has eluded the Cowboys since the mid-1990s, when the franchise last played in an NFC title game. That his final, injury-battered unit was less talented than the previous groups offered no grace.
The thinking that Jones couldn’t find a better coach on the market will now have to be proven, while McCarthy, kept in check last week when Jones denied the Chicago Bears’ request to interview him, will interview with…the Bears.
But who fits with the Cowboys now?
It’s almost a given to expect that Kellen Moore, the Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator, would be a consideration. Moore, who transitioned from Prescott’s backup quarterback to begin his coaching career with the Cowboys, was thought of so highly by Jones that McCarthy inherited Moore as the hand-picked coordinator and play-caller when he took the job in 2020. Then again, Moore left for a reason in 2023, and his first year with the Eagles – boosted by Saquon Barkley’s phenomenal season – has included so many questions about the viability of the passing game.
Then there are the Detroit Lions coordinators, Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn. Every team with an opening has targeted these two critical pieces to Detroit’s ability to seize the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. Johnson, who pushes the buttons for a creative offense that the Cowboys were foil for during a rout in October, is a hot name on the market for the third consecutive season. Glenn’s stock, meanwhile, has skyrocketed as his defense has endured despite massive injury losses, including the fractured fibula and tibia that Pro Bowl defensive end Aidan Hutchinson sustained, incidentally, in Dallas. There’s also a familiarity factor with the high-energy Glenn, who played cornerback under Parcells for two seasons with the Cowboys.
Timing, though, could hamper Dallas in pursuing any of the coaches still in the playoffs. Per NFL rules, interviews with coaches from existing playoff teams can’t be conducted until their teams are eliminated – or after the Super Bowl. Had the Cowboys parted ways with McCarthy last week, though, they could have had virtual interviews with those top prospects during a window last week. Still, the possibilities can’t be ignored – even if the Cowboys are behind the eight ball because the process of cutting the cord with McCarthy dragged on.
Yes, this is Jerry’s team. Thus, you can never rule out the possibility of a stunning move that shocks the NFL landscape.
Hello, Coach Prime?
Multiple reports surfaced on Monday that said Jones has already spoken to Deion Sanders about the job, with the Colorado coach later confirming the connection. Stay tuned.
One thing for sure: Sanders could surely handle the big stage. And given his years with the Cowboys during his Hall of Fame journey (including a Super Bowl ring), there’s undoubtedly a connection with Jones. Shoot, nobody is better equipped to deal with the Cowboys’ circus-like environment than Sanders, whose rise during two seasons at Colorado has continually fueled questions about whether he wants to ultimately coach in the NFL.
Sanders has seemingly softened his previous position about not wanting to coach on the pro level. He recently maintained that he would be open to the idea if he could coach his sons, star quarterback Shedeur and safety Shilo. With Prescott receiving a massive contract extension in September that makes him the NFL’s highest-paid player, it’s a stretch to expect that Shedeur Sanders would wind up with the Cowboys. Yet a report last week in the Las Vegas Journal-Review maintained that Sanders has some interest in the Raiders’ vacant job. If he would consider the Raiders, why not the Cowboys? Especially if he’s flexible about, well, the quarterback. And Sanders, by the way, still has a home in the Dallas area.
In any event, Jones has maintained – going back to Sanders’ tenure at Jackson State, at least – that he saw the Hall of Famer as a potential NFL head coach.
Other stuff to ponder: Would Jones tap the college ranks and try luring Steve Sarkisian from Texas? Would he buck the NFL and go after Jon Gruden, despite the former coach’s lawsuit against the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell? Would he call the Pittsburgh Steelers and inquire about trading for the embattled but well-respected Mike Tomlin?
With Jones, you just never know. Remember, he came into the NFL in 1989 with a shock as he replaced the legendary Tom Landry with Jimmy Johnson, and that worked out. Then when he split with Johnson in 1994, he brought in another college coach, Barry Switzer.
Did you hear the one about Jason Witten? Fans have been making a lot of noise on the internet suggesting that the team pursue the Hall of Fame-credentialed former tight end who has begun his coaching career, and coaching his son, at Liberty Christian High School in Argyle, Texas.
Maybe Witten can be the next Coach Prime or the next Dan Campbell, tight-end-turned coaching star. Check back in 10 years.
With the current crisis, the Cowboys have a sense of urgency that just can’t wait.
Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Jarrett Bell on X @JarrettBell.