Tag: Mike McCarthy

The Cowboys keeping Mike McCarthy as their coach for 2024 stunned NFL fans (and made Dallas fans livid)

Mike McCarthy is back in Dallas.

Despite speculation to the contrary, Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy will officially be back for a fourth season after falling in the NFC wild-card round.

Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones confirmed on Wednesday night his decision to retain McCarthy for the last year of his contract, citing his regular season performance as a major motivator in keeping him.

Jones said he feels his franchise is “very close and capable” of winning a Super Bowl and that continuing with McCarthy is “the best step forward for us.”

The decision pushes away the idea that someone like Bill Belichick or Mike Vrabel could step in for Dallas after a McCarthy firing.

Cowboys fans really did not take kindly to news of McCarthy’s retention, while other NFL fans had very bewildered reactions as to why Jones didn’t make the hard call and find a new coach for his franchise.

All the same, the reactions were plentiful.

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Mike McCarthy returning as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys

Mike McCarthy is getting a fifth season as head coach of the Cowboys

Say what you want about Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. He is loyal to his head coaches.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reported Wednesday that Mike McCarthy will return in 2024 for the final season of his contract as Cowboys head coach.

This despite the Cowboys being clobbered in the NFC Wild Card Game at AT&T Stadium by the Green Bay Packers, 48-32.

The loss ended Dallas’ season and snapped a 16-game home winning streak.

McCarthy is 42-25 in four seasons in Dallas. His first campaign was 6-10 and he has gone 12-5 in each of his last three.

He is 1-3 in the postseason with the Cowboys.

Breaking: Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy to return for 2024 season

The Cowboys will have Mike McCarthy return for the 2024 season. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The news has finally landed and there will not be a change atop the Dallas Cowboys coaching tree. Head coach Mike McCarthy will return for the 2024 season, his final under his five-year contract signed in 2020. Based on his regular season results this seemed like a foregone conclusion, but Dallas’ disastrous wild-card round loss clouded the picture.

After finishing 12-5 for the third consecutive season and winning the NFC East for the second time in the span, McCarthy’s Cowboys looked woefully inept in their home defeat against the Green Bay Packers. Dallas lost 48-32, in a game that wasn’t that close, as the only home team to lose among the six games over the weekend. After meeting with him on Wednesday, owner Jerry Jones informed McCarthy he would get the chance to redeem himself.

 

Here’s why Jerry Jones will seriously consider bringing Mike McCarthy back

What if the Cowboys bring Mike McCarthy back in 2024 how do they sell hope to a furious fanbase? | From @ReidDHanson

Tis the season for thought exercises. After the Cowboys were unceremoniously ousted from the playoffs in the opening round, there’s no better time than now for asking the hard questions. And the first questions the Cowboys front office has to be asking themselves is where they go from here with their coaching staff.

Four years into the McCarthy tenure and he still hasn’t accomplished much more than what his predecessor Jason Garrett had. Granted, Garrett never posted three 12-win seasons, but he also never had a roster as well-rounded as what McCarthy has had. And Garrett’s 2-3 postseason record with Dallas stands up to McCarthy’s 1-3, even if it did take the former more years to accomplish it.

The Garrett comparison is an apt one, not just because of the consecutive nature of their terms as head coach, but in the patience exerted towards him from the Cowboys front office.

Garrett served as head coach for the Cowboys for nine seasons. His final 8-8 season in 2019 proved to be the nail in his coffin but many believed he had already coached three seasons too many and the dismissal was overdue.

Jerry Jones doesn’t take coaching changes lightly. Maybe he’s extra patient, maybe he’s extra stubborn, or maybe he’s hung up on the money he already guaranteed. Whatever the reason, Jones doesn’t pull the plug just because the fanbase wants to pull the plug. Such could be the case with McCarthy in 2024.

Head coach candidate rankings if Cowboys replace Mike McCarthy

Ranking our top candidates to take over the headset if Jerry Jones decides to move on from Mike McCarthy. | From @KDDrummondNFL

While nothing has been leaked, the longer the silence remains, the stronger the possibility becomes. Owner Jerry Jones could at any time weigh in on whether or not head coach Mike McCarthy will be returning for a fifth season to lead the Dallas Cowboys.

McCarthy and company are at a bit of a crossroads. For the first time in three decades, the Cowboys are consistently winning, victorious in 12 games for three consecutive years. Yet the playoff success McCarthy was hired to bring about has escaped them.

The blowout defeat, at home in the wild-card round, does not scream team-on-the-rise. So for that reason, Jones may be ready to move on and hitch his wagon to a new head coach. If there is a move to be made, there are a lot of quality potential candidates to choose from.

When it was apparent that Jason Garrett was not going to survive his 2019 lame-duck season, we began running replacement coach power rankings. Of those names, McCarthy was our top choice among coaches who would not require losing draft picks.

At the time, because there were months of buildup, we ranked a whopping 46 candidates. This year there won’t be that extensive of a group.

Of course, what can’t be captured here is how impressive any of these guys are in the interview room. There’s only so much that can be gleaned from the outside looking in. Also to be considered, there are a handful of the best head coaches in the game weren’t actually offensive or defensive coordinators before taking over the big chair. It’s impossible for us on the outside to have much knowledge on these types of candidates.

There’s no way to know whether or not these names will turn into stud head coaches, or if they ever get the opportunity. On the list from December 2019, Dan Campbell was No. 40, three spots behind Matt Eberflus and 20 spots behind Brian Daboll.  One just never truly knows.

4-Down Territory: Tua Tagovailoa, Mike McCarthy, Nick Sirianni, Worst of the Week

In this week’s “4-Down Territory,” the guys get into Tua Tagovailoa, Mike McCarthy, Nick Sirianni, and the Worst of the Week for the wild-card round.

Now that the wild-card round of the playoffs is over, it’s time once again for Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire, and Kyle Madson of Niners Wire, to come to the table with their own unique brand of analysis in “4-Down Territory.”

This week, the guys have some serious questions to answer:

  1. What should the Miami Dolphins do with Tua Tagovailoa?
  2. Should this be the end for Mike McCarthy in Dallas?
  3. Has Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni become more an liability than an asset?
  4. What was our Worst of the Week?

You can watch this week’s “4-Down Territory” right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “4-Down Territory” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

Cowboys News: ‘Dak Prescott trade’ thought exercise, and is McCarthy safe?

Early onset of the offseason means questions about McCarthy, a look at who wants Quinn and wondering what kind of compensation could come in a Prescott trade. | From @ArmyChiefW3

Reacting as if the sky is falling is a popular move once a team with high hopes has a season end abruptly as it did for the Cowboys on wildcard weekend. Once doubt starts to creep in, thoughts you may not have had a few days ago could make you wonder about the future of your favorite football team. Like most pain, time will heal the wound but the memory won’t be forgotten. After taking time to allow you to collect your thoughts and gather the most pertinent information, questions can start to be asked. A popular inquiry would be the immediate status of head coach Mike McCarthy. Some may even question if a move at quarterback may be warranted.

While many may have had the questions above cross their mind, rational thinking allows you to double-check if saying those things out loud, or on Twitter, is a good idea. What is a good idea is getting to know the available players in this year’s NFL draft as well as where Dallas will be picking. Speaking of picking, multiple teams without head coaches sure seem to like Dallas defensive coach Dan Quinn. Will someone pick him in the coming days? Lastly, as the season comes to a close with exit interviews and parting words among teammates, how many people are expected back in Dallas? All that and more in the latest edition of Cowboys News and notes.

‘I sucked tonight’: Cowboys’ Dak Prescott stands by HC Mike McCarthy after epic playoff collapse

If Mike McCarthy’s job is in jeopardy after Sunday’s loss, Prescott says his should be, too. That’s unlikely as a rocky offseason begins.

It took Dak Prescott just nine seconds into his Sunday evening press conference to find the word that Cowboys fans had been feeling all afternoon.

“Just shocked, honestly,” he told reporters as he tried to explain the opening-round postseason loss to the Green Bay Packers that was far more humiliating than the 48-32 score alone would suggest.

Shocked. Yep.

The 12-5 Cowboys had, shockingly, just been wiped off the field- their own field- and prematurely sent into the offseason by the lowest-ranked playoff seed in the conference. And following an outing in which Dallas had no answers in any phase of the game, the leader of the offense was just as lost for suggestions on what needs to happen next to get this regular-season powerhouse over the hump into actual contention for a title.

“I wish I had that answer for you, honestly.”

A growing number of outside observers have plenty of ideas, though, and many of them start with making a change at head coach.

Prescott, for one, isn’t ready to give up on Mike McCarthy. In fact, he doubled down on what the 60-year-old in his fourth year with the club has meant, to the organization and to him personally.

“He’s been amazing,” Prescott said when asked about this latest postseason collapse putting McCarthy’s job in jeopardy. “I don’t know how that can be, but I understand the business. In that case, it should be about me as well, honestly. That guy, I’ve had the season that I’ve had because of him. This team has had the success that they’ve had because of him. I understand it’s about winning the Super Bowl. That’s the standard of the league and damn sure the standard of this place, so I get it. But add me to the list, in that case.”

The dollars and cents, though, would seem to put Prescott and McCarthy in different categories as far as guarantees of their future employment in Dallas goes.

The head coach is now entering the final year of his contract, in a league where lame-duck head coaches are exceedingly rare; common sense says owner Jerry Jones will either- this offseason- extend McCarthy or buy out his final year and move on.

Prescott has a budget-crippling $59-plus million dollars coming his way in 2024 salary cap numbers, a no-trade clause in his deal, and language preventing the team from using the franchise tag on him again. A reworking of his terms is almost certainly coming… unless Jones is embarrassed and devastated enough by Sunday’s total no-show to blow the whole thing up and truly start over.

McCarthy bet on himself for 2023 by firing offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and installing himself as offensive play-caller. When it worked, the Dallas offense was a juggernaut, and the Cowboys led the league in scoring… albeit mostly against bad teams.

But there were several games- including, inexplicably, their playoff bout against his old club- in which his Cowboys looked completely uninspired and wholly unprepared.

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Prescott led the NFL in interceptions a year ago and vowed to turn that around. He did, throwing more touchdowns than anyone this season, earning his first All-Pro bid (second team), and being a legitimate contender for the league MVP award.

But the eight-year veteran said that the team’s wild-card train wreck renders all those accomplishments meaningless.

“A thousand percent,” he explained from the podium. “I’m not a guy that lives in the past, so where my feet are and at this moment? Yeah, I sucked tonight. And that was it.”

For a leader who has been so consistently good during the regular season, Prescott was unable to provide insight on why it never- apart from last year’s opening-round postseason win over 8-9 Tampa Bay- seems to translate to the playoffs, for him or for the Cowboys as a unit.

“It’s tough to give you that answer when I just went out there and we just did that. Unfortunately, that’s what the offseason’s for. And it’s a long, long one.”

But this offseason in Dallas is also going to be a rocky, rocky one.

And maybe that’s not so much of a shock.

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Former Washington QB Robert Griffin III loves attention

The former Washington QB has some advice for the Cowboys. Really.

Former Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin was at it again Sunday night following the Cowboys losing to the Packers.

The Packers jumped out to a 27-0 lead on their way to an easy 48-32 win over the shocked Cowboys, who were the NFC #2 seed.

Following the game, Griffin took to X (Twitter) to declare the Cowboys should make a coaching change. “The bottom line is I hate calling for coaches’ jobs. This is not what I do,” proclaimed the self-appointed guru.

“It’s gotta be the coach. You guys have had three consecutive 12-win seasons and nothing to show for it…”

Griffin then proceeded to mention how some have suggested the Cowboys hire Bill Belichick. Griffin then countered, “But I know who you need. You need Coach Prime. That’s right, Deion Sanders, Coach Prime.”

Griffin has made one outrageous statement after another, dating back to his playing days with Washington.

During his terrible downfall in 2013, he went to the former owner, which was quite divisive; the team fell apart, and the coaching staff was fired in favor of the owner supporting Griffin, who was only managing to prove he could not play in the pocket as an NFL quarterback.

Griffin now declaring the Cowboys need to hire Deion Sanders is pure foolishness. Or perhaps Griffin is figuring out that guys like Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith have made a lot of money and their careers out of making outlandish comments to a culture that increasingly is shallow and reads and thinks less.

Dallas was home and a -7.5-point favorite. In addition, no No. 7 seed had defeated a No. 2 seed since the NFL expanded in the 2020 season to 7 teams qualifying for the playoffs in each conference.

Sanders took the job at Colorado, and after a quick 3-0 start against three teams that all finished with losing records in 2023, the Buffaloes then finished the season 4-8.

Surely, Griffin is not serious, is he?

The more likely scenario is Griffin is again looking for attention. It is, after all, the thing he seeks most.

Cowboys McCarthy, Prescott at crossroads after humiliating wild-card loss

If the Cowboys want to turn the page on their head coach, they can, but while it’s not impossible it’s implausible they’ll move on from their QB this offseason. Here’s why.

The Dallas Cowboys 48-32 loss has once again ended a season in a manner that feels premature. Last year’s 12-win team made it to a road divisional game in San Francisco. While there was hope the club could advance over an inexperienced QB, results from 2023 have confirmed that Brock Purdy and the 49ers are the real deal and that loss was not the embarrassment it seemed like at the time.

But this loss, to the seventh-seeded Green Bay Packers is much different. Dallas will have to take a long look in the mirror and determine whether or not they’ve hit their ceiling with this head coach and quarterback combination. Both sides of the team shoulder equal blame for the disaster on Sunday, but as the faces of the franchise, Mike McCarthy and Dak Prescott are at a crossroads, and in the crosshairs.

There’s going to be a lot to unpack about both roles over the next 24 hours, but the options Jerry Jones and company have are wholly different for the two men.