Signs appeared to indicate that the Dallas Cowboys would retain Mike McCarthy as head coach for 2025 after owner and general manager Jerry Jones congratulated him profusely after their Week 18 finale against the Washington Commanders.
However, McCarthy and Jones’ conversations regarding the head coaching future in Dallas broke down Monday as both parties decided to separate. This surprised Cowboys Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback and ESPN NFL analyst Troy Aikman, leading him to believe there is no real plan in Dallas. He’s right. If the Cowboys were still going to part ways with McCarthy, why wait a full week after their season ended and fall behind in interviewing potential candidates? Jones’ management of the franchise over the past few years has taken some of the shine off the allure of being the Cowboys head coach in Aikman’s eyes.
“Well, I thought Mike McCarthy would be the head coach, so it’s a little bit of a surprise to me today that he’s not,” Aikman said during the pregame of ” Monday Night Countdown” on ESPN, via Awful Announcing. “It suggests there’s no real plan. The fact that they haven’t had a chance to interview one Ben Johnson and some of these others, Aaron Glenn. … Kellen Moore being a candidate for me seems logical: a guy who He knows the building well He obviously worked with the Cowboys and with Jerry Jones In fact, when Mike McCarthy got the job, Mike was told that Kellen would be the offensive coordinator, that’s it. so what the Jones family thinks of him Beyond. Of that, it’s hard to imagine As far as a coveted job goes, I don’t know if that’s accurate.
Of course, no team in the entire league is covered more closely than Dallas, but Aikman no longer views Dallas as a place where a head coach can run the show on his own terms. That’s why he doesn’t think Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell, who led his team out of the NFL basement to an appearance in the 2023 NFC title game and the top seed in the NFC in 2024, would have succeeded with the Cowboys.
“I think the Cowboys are a top team, and whoever is the head coach of this team will definitely attract a lot of attention. I think most football players who take over as head coach want to do it on their terms. It’s hard to do,” Aikman continued. If you take Dan Campbell for example, if he’s with the Dallas Cowboys? It’s hard to imagine that he is, and it’s hard to imagine that many coaches can do it. I love the Dallas Cowboys. I played there for 12 years. I wish them good luck, but to say that it’s a coveted job, I’m not sure I would necessarily agree with that.”
The Cowboys have spent the lowest amount in the NFL, $20.47 million in free agency since the end of last year’s Super Bowl, according to OverTheCap.com, and this lack of investment in their roster outside of the draft hampered Dallas greatly once the injury bug hit. The team’s depth was sorely lacking as the Cowboys stumbled to a 7-10 record in 2024 during an injury-plagued campaign. Between Aikman believing Jones refused to invest in McCarthy with a contract longer than two years and the lack of free agency spending, he doesn’t see Dallas empowering its head coaches. In fact, Aikman hasn’t seen Jones actually give a head coach the power to have a say in personnel decisions since his Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach’s days, Jimmy Johnson, ended with the team after back-to-back Super Bowl victories in 1992 and 1993.
“I don’t think they would have gotten through those four days if they didn’t think (McCarthy) was going to continue as head coach. There was something about those conversations that were made to me believe that could have been that long of a contract,” Aikman said. “I never got into the actual terms of what the money would be, but if the contract was going to be a two-year deal instead of a five-year deal, was that a no-go for Mike McCarthy? Or where is he? At one point, what seemed like a conversation that would have gotten Mike to a deal didn’t happen…I think coaching is important in the NFL. we would all agree with that, players You have to have both, but. bring someone in, no matter how qualified they are, I reiterate that I think Mike McCarthy is an exceptional football coach. He’s proven that in this league… We need to hold that head coach accountable as well. who Dallas has been missing since Jimmy Johnson is out.”
So who might consider succeeding McCarthy in Dallas? Here is CBS Sports’ look at head coaching candidates for the Cowboys’ late search.
