Tag: Rob Chudzinski

Cowboys’ McCarthy won’t join ranks of one-and-done coaches

The NFL is no stranger to quick hooks among the coaching ranks, but Stephen Jones confirms that Mike McCarthy will return in 2021,

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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