There are six NFL clubs searching for coaches, and some have known the search was coming since mid-season and all have been working at it since midday Tuesday when the Raiders let Antonio Pierce go. On Saturday afternoon, Jones and McCarthy had already met for days and still not found a resolution, but, like a jury trial, the longer this goes, the more it favors McCarthy staying as head coach.
That’s not the end of the world for Cowboys’ fans by any means. For most, I suspect, it is unsatisfactory and something less than inspirational.
The NFC playoffs begin Sunday and maybe Jones is counting on a big performance from a hot Tampa Bay team, not just because McCarthy’s Cowboys played their best game of the year in beating the Bucs here in late December. Tampa Bay at least has a coach (Todd Bowles, once the Cowboys’ defensive backs coach under Bill Parcells) in McCarthy’s age range. Both are 61 (Mike is eight days older if you want to factor that in).
Beyond that, 54-year-old Dan Quinn in Washington is the only one knocking on McCarthy’s door. The Lions’ Dan Campbell is 48 and the other four — Eagles’ Nick Sirianni, Packers’ Matt LaFleur, Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell and Rams’ Sean McVay are anywhere from 38 to 45.
I’m not trying to make this coaching decision all about age. Certainly I am decades past a time arguing for younger minds (as in columnists?) to be placed in charge. And I’m very aware that Andy Reid, five years older at 66, is closing in on being the first coach ever to capture three straight Lombardi Trophies. There’s a lot to be said for wisdom and experience. It’s of a particular benefit when a team is enjoying success.
The Cowboys, on the other hand, have been spinning their wheels for more than a generation. My son turned 30 this week, so he can’t remember the Cowboys playing in a Super Bowl or NFC championship game. He was 1 year old. My daughter, almost four years older, could if she cared about such things. The point is that unless you are in your mid-30’s you have no memories of the Cowboys being truly successful. The team that fostered the notion of Dallas as “a winner’s town” hasn’t been one since the ‘90s.
This has not changed under McCarthy’s leadership, although the team made three straight playoff appearances, which is something new for this decade. That’s an achievement that perhaps comes with an asterisk in the era of 14-team playoff fields.
Despite Reid’s presence at the top of the current success ladder, the NFL seems to be increasingly led by younger, innovative coaches. And, in most cases, younger quarterbacks. While McCarthy is older than all the NFC playoff coaches, we should add that Dak Prescott is older than all the NFC playoff quarterbacks except for the Rams’ Matthew Stafford, already a Super Bowl winner. It’s just as dangerous for the Cowboys to be counting on a 32-year-old quarterback next season, one who has never tasted real playoff success (Dak is 2-5) as it is to be led by McCarthy and Mike Zimmer (68).
The problem is that Jones signed Prescott to a massive guaranteed contract of $231 million in September. That isn’t something you can move on from anytime in the near future. Does this team need new voices in Dak’s head, new schemes to enhance his abilities to make this contract something more than the biggest albatross in club history? Or are you fine with the status quo?
That is all Jones really has to wrestle with this week although I’m sure he has, in his mind, expanded the issue in a number of other directions. If he is keeping most of this coaching staff, it’s almost certain to be a three-year deal with a raise for McCarthy. Maybe the great salesman is simply trying to figure out how to relay THAT news to Cowboys‘ fans and have it viewed as a positive development.
It’s also within reason to think Jones is just wrestling with McCarthy’s agent, Donald Yee, until the last possible moment early next week when the coach would become a true free agent and could interview with Chicago (something the Cowboys declined Tuesday) or any other team of his choosing without needing club approval.
It’s not the most entertaining start to 2025 for a team that fell far short of expectations in 2024. But it’s the one Jones has given us.
