Amid the postgame finger-pointing after the Dallas Cowboys‘ 28-25 loss in Week 3, a few voices are going so far as to say head coach Mike McCarthy is on the hot seat. When it comes to who could replace him, one familiar name keeps popping up.
The Cowboys “are a mess right now, which means [former New England Patriots head coach] Bill Belichick can make a list of demands to take over in 2025,” Sports Illustrated’s Randy Gurzi wrote in a September 22 feature.
Bill Belichick Is ‘Counting Dollar Signs’
McCarthy is in the last year of his contract. Going into the season, it was obvious that 2024 would be a make-or-break time for McCarthy, and being 1-2 to start the season is looking more like break for McCarthy.
“With only three games in the book, there’s still plenty of time to turn it around, but the product on the field offers little hope,” Gurzi wrote, adding that owner Jerry Jones “isn’t getting any younger” and that “as much as he loves the glory, he also knows how quickly a Super Bowl window can close. That’s why Belichick might be able to snatch some of the control from Jones, similar to what Bill Parcells did back in 2003.”
Jones drew Parcells, then 62, out of retirement that year, and the two-time Super Bowl-winning coach led the Cowboys to the playoffs, where they lost in the wild-card round to eventual champs the Carolina Panthers.
“We can argue whether or not Belichick, who will be 73 before the next season kicks off, is the right coach,” Gurzi wrote. “What’s hard to argue is that his leverage with Dallas has never been greater.”
McCarthy was 6-10 in 2020, his first season with the Cowboys and the same year quarterback Dak Prescott was out for part of the season with an ankle injury. Since then, McCarthy has been 37-17, with a 43-27 total record.
Jerry Jones on Bill Belichick: He’s a ‘Great Coach’
Jones had some glowing words for Belichick during Jones’ annual training camp press conference in July. Sitting next to McCarthy, Jones talked up the former New England Patriots coach.
“I think he may be the best coach — certainly of my time — in the NFL, and I happen to be part of a team that had the great Tom Landry, and I’d put him right there,” Jones said. “Bill’s a friend and a great coach.”
In a January appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter discussed the possibility of Belichick heading to Dallas. At the time, the Cowboys were still deciding whether to retain McCarthy.
“I definitely think he could work if that’s what both sides wanted to happen,” Schefter told McAfee. “I don’t think it would be an issue. Jerry made it work with Bill Parcells, and Bill Parcells made it work with Jerry.”
He added, “I think the same would be true if that was the path Jerry decided he wanted to go down. Bill is the greatest coach of all time. If they decided to make a change, to me, he would be in play.”
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Familiar Name Has Maximum ‘Leverage’ If Cowboys Move on From Mike McCarthy