Mike McCarthy failed to deliver for Cowboys. But who will?

David Helman

NFL Reporter

Like so many other things across these long 29 years, Mike McCarthy’s time in Dallas ended in confusion.

It didn’t come with a bang, or even a whimper. There was no loud proclamation or even a late morning press release, as you’d expect from most NFL teams. That was never going to happen with the Dallas Cowboys.

Instead, what we got was a week of uncertainty and closed-door negotiations. The Cowboys didn’t like their head coach enough to sign him to a new contract immediately, but they liked him enough to block other clubs from inquiring about his services.

Finally, mercifully, after eight days, word trickled out Monday morning. McCarthy’s deal won’t officially expire until Tuesday night, but he won’t be getting a new one with the Cowboys. A perplexing start to the new year.

That should be nothing new for the loyal followers of this iconic franchise. January can often be a confusing time for the Cowboys. This one might not be a playoff fiasco like “Dez Caught It” or last year’s wild card no-show, but it’s a fitting conclusion all the same.

After all, McCarthy’s entire tenure could be called confusing.

Maybe that sounds off to you by this point. It’s easy to resign the last five years to the scrap heap of mediocrity considering how things spiraled in 2024. It’s been 12 months since that playoff loss to Green Bay forced McCarthy into coaching for his job. It’s been 10 months since it became painfully obvious that McCarthy wasn’t going to have the same caliber of roster he’d had in years past. It’s been four months since the Cowboys opened their season in putrid fashion, and it’s been three months since they lost Dak Prescott to a season-ending injury.

And it’s true that the NFL tends to be a zero-sum game. McCarthy was hired in January 2020 to bring a championship back to a proud franchise, as he did for the Green Bay Packers. At his introductory press conference, he beamed with pride about what he’d accomplished elsewhere and his “unwavering commitment” to doing the same in Dallas.

Against that backdrop, and with the growing tally of years since a Cowboys’ championship, it’s easy to write him off as a failure.

But it also doesn’t do justice to what the Dallas Cowboys were before his arrival.

Like it or not, McCarthy’s .583 winning percentage is second-best by a Cowboys head coach since the glory days of the mid-90s. His three playoff appearances are tied with Jason Garrett for the most since the team won its last Super Bowl — and McCarthy accomplished that in half as many seasons.

That’s the confusing part. The blunt truth is that McCarthy oversaw the most stable run of successful Cowboys football in a generation. When he was hired in 2020, the Cowboys had not made consecutive trips to the postseason since 2006-07. And ultimately, his three straight 12-win campaigns from 2021 to 2023 marked the club’s best regular-season stretch since 1993-95.

It all pales in comparison to what happened in subsequent Januarys, though. Three consecutive early playoff exits — bullied by the 49ers in 2022, bullied again by them in 2023, humiliated at home by the Packers in 2024. To date, the Cowboys are the only No. 2 seed to lose to a No. 7 seed since the NFL playoffs expanded five years ago. And, as long as we’re being blunt, it’s worth noting that McCarthy’s lone playoff victory with Dallas came against a Tampa Bay team that finished its season 8-9. Not exactly a confidence-inspiring result.

The Cowboys finished with a top-five offense under McCarthy in each of the three seasons he had a healthy Prescott. Speaking of Dak, McCarthy also oversaw his quarterback’s only All-Pro season to date. If you’re feeling less generous, the Cowboys also finished top six in penalties incurred in four of McCarthy’s five seasons. Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder.

Which leaves us here: The Dallas Cowboys, who enjoyed as good a run of regular-season football as they’ve seen in a generation, but who are as far away from playoff success as ever; and Mike McCarthy, who averaged 10 wins per year and has nothing tangible to show for it.

Cowboys fans are right to want and expect more than what Mike McCarthy delivered. But as evidenced by the 25 years that preceded him, they should also be wary that the next coach will do better.

Maybe that’s the least confusing way to frame this. Mike McCarthy leaves Dallas having failed to end the Cowboys’ 29-year walk through the Super Bowl wilderness. But as they prepare to continue that walk under new management, it’s fair to wonder who exactly is going to lead them back to glory.

David Helman covers the NFL for FOX Sports and hosts the NFL on FOX podcast. He previously spent nine seasons covering the Cowboys for the team’s official website. In 2018, he won a regional Emmy for his role in producing “Dak Prescott: A Family Reunion” about the quarterback’s time at Mississippi State. Follow him on Twitter at @davidhelman_.

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