Will Mike McCarthy return in 2025 as the Cowboys head coach? This is what we know so far

The Dallas Cowboys have had one of their worst seasons in recent memory this year. At 8-5 heading into their Week 16 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers tonight, the Cowboys have officially been eliminated from the 2024 postseason due to a Washington Commanders win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

Head coach Mike McCarthy was sort of in and out of the hot seat all season, even before it got started. He’s had a great track record in the regular season, leading the Cowboys to three straight 12-5 seasons from 2021 to 2023. But his 1-3 record in the postseason is significantly less impressive, and their embarrassing exit from the Wild Card game to the Green Bay Packers last year had fans sure they’d be seeing the last of him after this season.

Mike McCarthy’s future with the Dallas Cowboys

McCarthy is in the last year of his current contract with the Cowboys after owner Jerry Jones opted not to renew it following the Wild Card loss last season. After a terrible start to this season that saw the Cowboys lose five straight games and every home game, it seemed certain that McCarthy would be on his way out after this season is through.

But a few good games and victories sprinkled throughout kept him in the conversation of a potential return. Now, the Cowboys are heading into their Sunday Night Football game against the Bucs having already been eliminated from playoff contention for the first time since 2020.

Still, Jones has been saying for weeks that he believes in McCarthy’s abilities and defending his skills as a Super Bowl-winning head coach. Indeed, there are not a lot of better options out there now that Bill Belichick has gone to the University of North Carolina and Detroit Lions OC Ben Johnson is unlikely to go to Dallas. Just over a week ago, The Athletic’s Dianni Russini reported that “feeling around the league” is that McCarthy was likely to return. Of course, that was before the playoff elimination.

It seems that Jones wants McCarthy back next season regardless though. The team has shown a no-quit attitude, even when their playoff hopes were all but lost. That’s a tribute to the coaching staff as well. Jones clearly believes in McCarthy’s history of success and contributes a lot of this season’s issues to injuries as well. Whether or not he can sell this idea to the fans is another story. The test for McCarthy this year was supposed to be how the Cowboys would do in the postseason, and well...they’re not even it it. So yes, it will be a hard sell.

The playoffs are no longer an option this year, but there are still three games left. Jones had the option to extend McCarthy at any point this season and he hasn’t done so yet. But perhaps what happens in the next three could determine his future once and for all.

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