Cowboys, head coach Mike McCarthy reportedly part ways after five seasons

Jerry Jones is on the hunt for another head coach.

The Dallas Cowboys have opted not to bring Mike McCarthy back as head coach, ending his tenure after five seasons, NFL Media reported Monday. McCarthy and the Cowboys had been negotiating a new deal before his contract was set to expire at midnight Tuesday, but the two sides failed to agree on the length of a new deal, according to NFL Media. 

The Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints are reportedly expected to be among the teams interested in McCarthy.

McCarthy was seemingly on the hot seat all season long. After a first-round upset by the Green Bay Packers in the 2023 season, the Cowboys opted to retain McCarthy. However, they didn’t extend him, making McCarthy a rare head coach to enter the final season of their contract without an extension in place.

The hot-seat rumors surrounding McCarthy never seemed to cool off throughout the 2024 season. Dallas got off to a 1-2 start before losing five straight during October and November, practically sinking its season. To make matters worse, QB Dak Prescott suffered a season-ending hamstring injury that required surgery in the middle of that losing streak.

Prior to the underwhelming 2024 campaign, McCarthy typically had the Cowboys in playoff contention. They went 12-5 in the 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons. They won the NFC East in 2021 and 2023, with Prescott finishing second in MVP voting in the latter, as McCarthy also called plays. Dallas missed the postseason in 2020 when Prescott suffered a gruesome leg injury that ended his season prematurely. 

While the Cowboys were one of the NFC’s top teams each year they made the playoffs under McCarthy, they weren’t able to replicate their regular-season success in the postseason. They only won one playoff game, failing to make it past the divisional round, as the Cowboys are still seeking their first trip to the NFC Championship Game since their last Super Bowl season in 1995.

McCarthy previously coached the Packers, leading the iconic franchise to a Super Bowl title in 2010. He was let go late in the 2018 season by the Packers as he was in the middle of his 13th year as head coach. The Cowboys hired McCarthy in 2020 after he took the 2019 season off to replace long-time head coach Jason Garrett.

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