Following the Cowboys’ postseason elimination last year, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones elected to keep head coach Mike McCarthy in place. He did not offer the former Super Bowl winner a new deal, however, leaving many to believe the 2024 campaign would be followed up by a change on the sidelines. 
Before Dak Prescott‘s season-ending injury, Dallas struggled in a number of categories and the team now sits at 4-7 with Prescott out of the picture. Optimism is low regarding a playoff push, but at a minimum McCarthy will remain in place for the remainder of the season. As for 2025, Jones is (at least publicly) open to the idea of giving McCarthy a second contract.
“I don’t think that’s crazy at all,” Jones said during an appearance on 105.3 The Fan regarding an extended McCarthy tenure (via Jon Machota of The Athletic). “Listen, Mike McCarthy is an outstanding coach… This is a Super Bowl-winning coach. Mike McCarthy has been there and done that. He has great ideas. Bottom line is that no place in my body language or anything else have you seen indications about what we’re going to be doing relative to this [coaching] staff at the end of this year. And we shouldn’t. We got a lot of football left.”
Hired in 2020 as Jason Garrett‘s replacement, McCarthy came to Dallas with the mandate of delivering postseason success. That process did not get off to a strong start with a 6-10 campaign, but each of the following three seasons resulted in 12-5 records. The Cowboys’ inability to translate those regular season marks into a playoff run – McCarthy has won just one postseason game with Dallas – has resulted in his lame duck status. Jones has remained confident in the team’s 2024 prospects, so it comes as little surprise he has left the door open to maintaining the status quo on the sidelines for at least one more year.
Still, an improved showing the stretch would no doubt go a long way in helping McCarthy’s chances of remaining in place. The 61-year-old will be hard-pressed to keep the Cowboys in playoff contention even in the wake of Sunday’s wild win over the Commanders, but more consistent play on both sides of the ball could at least offer optimism for the 2025 season. The team has received reinforcements at some positions on the health front, something which could help lead to something of a turnaround over the coming weeks.
Plenty of key decisions loom in the near future from a roster-building perspective, but before free agency and the draft a call will need to be made regarding Dallas’ coaching staff. For now, at least, McCarthy could be in play to carry on in his current capacity.
31 other fanbases love the fact that the Cowboys continue to keep their focus on retaining mediocrity.
I guess you never know with someone who kept Jason Garrett almost a decade, but I would bet against this one.
There’s probably a small chance. They beat Washington and will probably beat the Giants on Thursday. That would put them at 5-7. Their remaining schedule is Cincy, Carolina, Tampa, Philly, and Washington. If they can win two of those (maybe Carolina and another one; Philly may be locked into position by then so who knows?), that would put them at 7-10. If they don’t embarrass themselves in their losses, I could see Jerrah keeping him.
That said, big name moves like Belichick, Vrabel, and Ben Johnson will be out there and Jones likes to make a big splash.
It’s just hard to see him giving McCarthy a new contract, especially after an embarrassing season and when they’ll be firing their DC for sure.
Does Mike even want to?
Committing to a multi-season tank
Oh please no.
“Listen, Mike McCarthy is an outstanding coach… This is a Super Bowl-winning coach.
And that’s the problem Jerry. SB winning HCs have made 15 attempts to duplicate the achievement with another team. They’re batting 0 for 15 but keep dreaming that McCarthy will be the guy to hit a home run.
It’s official, Jerry hates Cowboys fans