Should the Cowboys Keep Mike McCarthy?
This is Mike McCarthy’s fifth year as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Heading into Week 17, he sports a 49-33 record in those five years with a single playoff win. His first year was shrouded by a Dak Prescott injury, followed by three straight 12-5 seasons. Due to injury struggles, this year has been very similar to his inaugural season as the Cowboys coach. Despite a win in Week 16 against a good Tampa Bay Buccaneers team, McCarthy’s squad was eliminated from playoff contention. This has begged the question, has Mike McCarthy hit his ceiling with Dallas?
In McCarthy’s tenure, during the regular season when his team is healthy, the Cowboys have looked like Super Bowl contenders. However, it has been a much different story when it comes to postseason play. Besides a decisive victory over Tom Brady’s Buccaneers in 2022, effectively sending Brady into retirement, McCarthy’s Cowboys have put up some pretty underwhelming playoff performances. McCarthy’s hiring in early 2020 was supposed to bring America’s Team back into relevance which means more than just playoff appearances, it means rings and trips to Disney World. In his fifth year with Green Bay, McCarthy won a Super Bowl back in 2010 but has it been a long enough, fair trial run with the Cowboys? Cowboys star defensive linebacker Micah Parsons does not think so.
Along with the longtime team’s owner Jerry Jones, Parsons has backed his head coach, vying for his return in 2025 and perhaps longer. For McCarthy, those are possibly the two most important endorsements he could find. Quotes from those two have Cowboys fans thinking McCarthy’s return is imminent, bringing mixed feelings to the fanbase. Since the 90s, this Cowboys fan base has been anxious for more success, and the longer they wait for another NFC Championship game appearance, the antsier they get.
McCarthy has yet to prove the continued, improving success that was promised with his hiring but with the other head coach options thin, gambling on keeping McCarthy seems like the franchise’s best bet. My guess is an extension to his contract is near but you can guarantee without more success in the next couple of years, that seat will remain hot. Mike McCarthy will have to have his eyes set on a Lombardi trophy if he wants to be remembered in good spirits in the state of Texas.
