He did it. The son of a…. an Arkansas businessman did it.
Jerry Jones let the ninth head coach of the Dallas Cowboys walk out the door.
Jones is the only general manager in the entire history of the NFL to have fired/let go every head coach in a franchise’s history.
The first three – Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson, and Barry Switzer – won five Super Bowls in eight appearances in the first 36 seasons.
In the last 29 seasons, the six that followed don’t even have a single win in the Divisional round of the playoffs to their credit. That is not good.
With Mike McCarthy now officially out the door, the big question hangs over Dallas.
Who will be the 10th head coach of the Dallas Cowboys?
Not The Coaches You’re Looking For
Even if we hear from Jones, we really won’t know who he actually wants to get to replace McCarthy.
There are a lot of names being thrown out into the ether. Some of them good.
Some of them are not so good.
And some the Cowboys shouldn’t even put up on the board at all.
Unfortunately, a lot of those coaches that will be front-runners in Jones’ mind will probably come from the “shouldn’t be on the board” list.
Jones could be looking at former Cowboys players. Like Deion Sanders, Jason Witten, or Kellen Moore. None of them should be the 10th Cowboys head coach.
Sanders would only come if Jones committed to drafting his two sons.
That would be a waste of the Cowboys’ first two draft picks for the third straight year.
Not to mention making the clown show already at The Star in Frisco into Cirque de Frisco. The entire organization needs stability.
A Sanders-Jones marriage would be as far from stable as you can get.
Moore is getting a lot of good press this year solely because Saquon Barkley joined the Eagles. Philadelphia’s passing attack is anemic.
And in case you haven’t noticed, Dallas doesn’t have a Barkley or a Derrick Henry in its backfield.
One last point against Moore is on tape. The final play of the 2022 Divisional round loss to the 49ers should be the ultimate disqualification.
Moore’s offense doesn’t work in the playoffs.
Witten is a high school football coach. He has no other coaching experience at any other level.
He’s not ready for the job now.
If Jones is serious about changing things and getting back to the Super Bowl, he has to look outside the Cowboys’ organization.
Past Their Expiration Dates
Bill Belichick, Doug Pedersen, Pete Carroll, Jon Gruden, and Ron Rivera have also been mentioned.
It’s worth noting that Belichick has a $10 million buyout to get out of his contract at the University of North Carolina.
Belichick has said he would have been interested in the Cowboys’ job if it was available at the time he took the North Carolina job.
He also has a history of taking a job with one team and bailing on them shortly after.
He quit the New York Jets one day after agreeing to become their head coach. He went to the Patriots a short time later that year and the rest is history.
Would he do it again? More importantly, would the Cowboys want to hire him?
Hiring an older coach, or in Gruden’s case, one that’s been out of the game for a while, doesn’t seem like a good move.
Time For A Fresh Approach
There is a solid group of coordinators available this year. The Cowboys need to focus on landing one of them.
Ben Johnson, Kliff Kingsbury, Aaron Glenn, Joe Brady, and Liam Coen for starters.
In the case of Johnson, Klingsbury, and Brady, they bring innovative approaches on offense.
They can also relate to their quarterbacks better. They could possibly get that next level of performance from Dak Prescott when it’s needed most: the playoffs.
And if Prescott can’t make that progression, they’ll be able to develop a young quarterback out of the draft.
In addition to a young, innovative coach, Dallas needs to change one more thing in how they approach building a championship team.
Jones needs to butt out of player personnel.
Let his new coach determine who the Cowboys draft, which free agents they pursue, who they trade for, and who they ultimately cut.
The Likely Choice
Unless someone gets inside The Star and preaches gospel to the entire Jones family – don’t look at me, I’m persona non grata in there – I see only one likely outcome.
The 10th Head Coach of the Dallas Cowboys will be Mike Zimmer.
He’d keep the defense intact, which at least shows a lot of promise. But Zimmer would have to hit a home run at offensive coordinator.
He’d also need some assurances from Jones that the front office would make better choices going forward.
Otherwise, Dallas should have just stuck it out with McCarthy.
Closing The Book On Big Mike
McCarthy’s five-year run ends with a 49-35 record. The only two years he failed to get the team to the playoffs were the years Prescott missed significant time due to injury.
His playoff record was a woeful 1-3, the lone win coming in a wild card game at Tampa Bay.
Here’s how McCarthy’s record stacks up against his eight predecessors:
Coach – Regular Season / Playoffs / Super Bowls
- Tom Landry – 250-162 / 20-16 / 2 Super Bowl wins
- Jimmy Johnson – 44-36 / 7-1 / 3 Super Bowl wins
- Barry Switzer – 40-24 / 5-2 / 1 Super Bowl win
- Chan Gailey – 18-14 / 0-2 /
- Dave Campo – 15-33 / 0-0/
- Bill Parcells – 34-30 / 0-2 /
- Wade Phillips – 34-22 / 1-2 /
- Jason Garrett – 85-67 / 2-3 /
- Mike McCarthy – 49-35 / 1-3 /