The 2020 season has gone badly enough that the question had to be asked on Monday: will first-year head coach Mike McCarthy survive the proverbial bloodbath to return next year? The answer from Stephen Jones was an unequivocal yes, but that got the wheels turning. Just how bad do things have to go for a coach to last a year or less?
Not as bad as some might think. There is a rich history of trigger-happy owners showing their new charges the door in a hurry. Peruse the handy list below to take a look at some of the quickest hooks the league has ever seen. Note: for those wondering, Bill Belichick’s day-long employment with the New York Jets is not included; he never actually coached a game.
| Year | Team | Coach | Record |
| 2019 | CLE | Freddie Kitchens | 6-10 |
| 2019 | ARI | Steve Wilks | 3-13 |
| 2013 | CLE | Rob Chudzinski | 4-12 |
| 2011 | OAK | Hue Jackson | 8-8 |
| 2009 | SEA | Jim Mora | 5-11 |
| 2007 | MIA | Cam Cameron | 1-15 |
| 2007 | ATL | Bobby Petrino | 3-10 |
| 2006 | OAK | Art Shell | 2-14 |
| 2001 | WAS | Marty Schottenheimer | 8-8 |
| 2000 | NYJ | Al Groh | 9-7 |
| 1999 | GB | Ray Rhodes | 8-8 |
| 1994 | NYJ | Pete Carroll | 6-10 |
| 1993 | WAS | Richie Petitbon | 4-12 |
| 1984 | MIN | Les Steckel | 3-13 |
| 1978 | SF | Pete McCulley | 1-8 |
| 1977 | LAR | George Allen | 0-2* |
| 1976 | NYJ | Lou Holtz | 3-10 |
Poor Al Groh got shown the door after a winning record! A nine-win season would require the Cowboys to run off a seven-game win streak, a statistical improbability that would dash the dreams of all draft fans. Three different men finished a respectable .500 before getting the axe. The majority of the coaches, though, really put in the kind of work that rightfully earned them a ticket to the unemployment line. This much is clear, however: working for the Jets, Browns, or Raiders could be considered an occupational hazard.
Still, just two team owners, if they had any semblance of self-awareness, would look back and rue the day they moved on from their coaches so quickly. Pete Carroll would go on to build a mini-dynasty that’s still going with the Seattle Seahawks, winning one Super Bowl and appearing in another. And Marty Schottenheimer went on to a critically-acclaimed run with the San Diego Chargers, though he always fell short of the promised land.
This won’t be the case for McCarthy and the Joneses. Even though a three- or four-win season in 2020 seems as likely as any other outcome, and as badly as some fans already want to pivot in a new direction, it’s not happening. It’s hard to say that the newest coach in Dallas deserves as much criticism as he’s received, given the circumstances he’s faced.
At a minimum, McCarthy’s job security for next year was likely locked in the moment starting quarterback Dak Prescott was lost for the season. Even though a divorce is inevitable, as it always is in the league whose initials are said to stand for “Not For Long,” it won’t happen in Dallas this off-season.
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