It wasn’t too way back that everybody was sure the Cowboys can be on the lookout for a brand new head coach after this 12 months. Mike McCarthy’s contract expires as soon as the season ends, and a shedding streak that noticed Dak Prescott go down for the 12 months solely escalated the percentages of that occuring.
Then the Cowboys received two straight, each of them in opposition to division foes, and momentum started to shift within the coach’s favor. Prescott made a uncommon media look to vouch for McCarthy and Stephen Jones admitted that all the crew feels the identical manner. Then, earlier than the Monday evening recreation kicked off in opposition to the Bengals, Troy Aikman added to the discourse:
Former Cowboys QB Troy Aikman on @1053thefan stated he expects Mike McCarthy to be the Cowboys’ head coach subsequent season.
“Wanting Invoice Belichick, I do not know who you are going to herald that has a greater resume. … I simply really feel that for a crew that I actually don’t assume is that…
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) December 10, 2024
As if the universe was taking part in a cosmic sensible joke, the Cowboys instantly went on to lose in probably the most dumbfounding manner potential. After the protection sacked Joe Burrow on third and lengthy with two minutes left within the recreation and the rating all tied up, Dallas blocked the punt after which foolishly tried to recuperate it, giving the ball proper again to Cincinnati in consequence.
The dire psychological error in such a vital second instantly let the social media hounds unfastened on McCarthy, with followers calling for him to be fired and expressing remorse over the obvious about-face of the interior sentiment on the coach.
There’s only one drawback: the Cowboys can’t do any higher than this.
That’s each within the short- and long-term, too. Nearly everybody not named Jerry or Stephen agrees that the offseason methods this 12 months weren’t put along with profitable in 2024 because the foremost precedence. It’s not totally stunning that the crew stumbled early on, and it’s even much less stunning that they bought worse after Prescott went down.
Hope of a magical turnaround was extinguished a number of weeks in the past, though the two-game win streak cracked the door open ever so barely. This loss to the Bengals was a reminder, although, that the Cowboys on this present second should not outfitted to contend for the playoffs.
In the long term, although, the Cowboys have an uneasy future too. They’ve 11 starters with expiring contracts this 12 months, and Micah Parsons will doubtless desire a new contract earlier than his fifth-year possibility formally kicks in. Following subsequent 12 months, the Cowboys can have contract choices to make on DaRon Bland, Jake Ferguson, Donovan Wilson, Jalen Tolbert, Brandon Aubrey, and Terence Steele, amongst others.
They’re additionally already tied to Prescott and CeeDee Lamb for at the least the following 4 years. On some stage, that’s a superb factor, however Prescott is already the longest-tenured beginning quarterback within the league. He’ll already be getting into subsequent season coming off his season-ending damage, so including a complete scheme overhaul onto his plate can be unwise.
That’s what dumping McCarthy would imply: a brand new scheme, a brand new language, and a completely completely different set of personnel necessities on offense. Whereas many followers can be elated to ditch the Texas Coast offense after simply two years, pulling off a scheme change is simpler stated than achieved. Discovering the correct coach to do it’s a completely completely different animal.
Many followers need Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, however that appears extremely unlikely. The opposite two names mostly related to the potential emptiness are Invoice Belichick and Mike Vrabel. As of the time of publication, Belichick is reportedly on the verge of taking the top teaching job on the College of North Carolina. However we’ll reference him right here becasue he was a probable candidate till only recently, and it helps construct out the context.
Belichick is a defensive thoughts whose monitor report on offense has been spotty, at the least when he doesn’t have Tom Brady working the present. The identical could be stated of Vrabel, who went 13-21 after shedding offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. Within the six years that Vrabel coached the Titans, his offense was thirteenth in EPA/play and 14th in success fee; in that very same span, the Cowboys are fifth and third, respectively.
The largest knock on McCarthy is that he doesn’t win within the postseason. It’s a foolish factor to say a couple of coach who has a Tremendous Bowl ring to his identify, however McCarthy is 1-3 within the playoffs in Dallas. Belichick and Vrabel have had their moments within the playoffs, although. Belichick clearly has six rings, whereas Vrabel’s second 12 months with the Titans noticed them attain the convention championship recreation.
After all, neither coach has achieved a lot just lately. Following that stellar 2019 12 months for the Titans, Vrabel went 0-2 within the playoffs after which failed to achieve the postseason his subsequent two years. In the meantime, Belichick has only one playoff look since Brady left the Patriots, and he hasn’t received a playoff recreation for the reason that 2018 season.
To place that in perspective, the final playoff win he had got here on the finish of a Tremendous Bowl run that noticed the Patriots beat Philip Rivers’ Chargers, Patrick Mahomes in simply his second profession playoff recreation, and a Rams crew led by Jared Goff and Todd Gurley.
“However they’ve gotten farther within the playoffs than McCarthy has in Dallas,” some say. So did McCarthy when he took this job. McCarthy at present has the third-most wins amongst energetic head coaches and he’s tied for thirteenth most all time. Coincidentally, he’s tied Invoice Parcells, one other Tremendous Bowl profitable head coach who was unable to copy his success in Dallas. If these two coaches couldn’t get it achieved below the watchful eye of Jerry Jones, what hope is there that Vrabel can?
Therein lies the central purpose for protecting McCarthy. They’d a run of consistency the final three years not like any for the reason that glory days of this franchise. They have been painfully shut all three years, however simply couldn’t get it achieved. A training change doubtless resets the trajectory, however continuity with a coach the gamers love, and are preventing exhausting for, retains the crew across the rim, as Jones likes to say.
In different phrases, the Cowboys in all probability aren’t going to be any higher than what they already are. They may as effectively roll the cube once more with McCarthy and hope for just a little higher luck subsequent time round.
