Mike McCarthy Returning As Cowboys HC For 2024 Season

Adam Schefter reports that the Cowboys are retaining HC Mike McCarthy for the 2024 season, despite the team’s disappointing playoff loss to the Packers. 

McCarthy’s job security has been the subject of a lot of speculation over the last year or so and the expectation was that it would ultimately hinge on how the team performed in the playoffs. It couldn’t have gone much worse for Dallas, as the Packers dominated them on both sides of the ball. 

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones issued the following statement regarding the decision to retain McCarthy:

“I believe this team is very close and capable of achieving our ultimate goals and the best step forward for us will be with Mike McCarthy as our head coach. There is great benefit to continuing the team’s progress under Mike’s leadership as our head coach. Specifically, there are many layers of success that have occurred this season as a result of Mike’s approach to leading the team, both with individual players and with our team collectively. Mike has the highest regular season winning percentage of any head coach in Cowboys history and we will dedicate ourselves, in partnership with him, to translating that into reaching our post season goals. Certainly, Mike’s career has demonstrated post season success at a high level, and we have great confidence that can continue.

“Further, our loss on Sunday is shared by everyone here, not just Coach McCarthy. Our players. Our coaches. Our front office. Myself. There is accountability for our results. I am accountable for our results. The lens we use to view and evaluate Coach McCarthy is holistic. While we’re all disappointed with the result on Sunday and with our playoff record, I am 100 percent supportive of him as our head coach and ability to reach our goals.

“We will start our process of review and decision making regarding everything that impacts our team and roster and, while we’re not going to address specific players and extensions or free agents at this point, it deserves our deepest review and consideration, and it will get it.”

Jones was clearly dejected after the game and yet, it still wasn’t enough for them to make a change. Some thought Bill Belichick might make sense for the Cowboys, given that their team in primed to win now, but it appears Jones felt it was best to give McCarthy another season. 

It’s worth mentioning that McCarthy received strong support form the team after Sunday’s loss to the Packers. 

McCarthy has one more year on his contract, so it’s unlikely he’ll receive an extension before the season. 

The next domino to watch for the Cowboys will be DC Dan Quinn, who has at least four head coach interviews lined up this offseason. 

McCarthy, 60, began his NFL coaching career with the Chiefs back in 1993 as an offensive quality control coordinator. He bounced around with the Packers, Saints and 49ers before the Packers hired him as their head coach in 2006.

The Packers made the decision to move on from McCarthy following their disappointing loss to the Cardinals in Week 13 of 2018. He was out of football in 2019 before being hired by the Cowboys in 2020.

During his 13-year tenure in Green Bay, McCarthy led the Packers to a record of 125-77-2 (61.8 percent), which includes nine playoff appearances and a Super Bowl title in 2010.

McCarthy has a record of 40-25 in four years with the Cowboys, with three playoff appearances and a 1-3 record in the postseason.