What does Jerry Jones do?

On By Littum

game

Sometimes divorce is the best option – for everyone. Mom, Dad, the kids.

The metaphor loosely applies to Dallas Cowboys and Mike McCarthy, the sides who opted to part ways Monday, with the head coach’s contract expiring after five seasons marked by significant highs and lows typical of America’s Team for decades. Although the Cowboys had an exclusive window to reach an extension with McCarthy in the preceding days, a deal was never reached.

McCarthy went 50-38, including the postseason, with Dallas. His .583 regular-season winning percentage was the fourth-best in franchise history, even after being depressed by a 7-10 campaign in 2024 where McCarthy had a lot of elements working against him.

Where do the parties go now and who comes out better from this decision? Some winners and losers like McCarthy and Dallas wade into HC free agency.

WINNERS

Mike McCarthy

Leading the Cowboys is a tough job. Jerry Jones is the only owner in the league who effectively serves as general manager and interacts with the media and fans so often, a dynamic that makes for a delicate dynamic for any coach. McCarthy generally navigated it well, producing three consecutive 12-win regular seasons from 2021 to ’23, two NFC East titles earned in that span. He already has a Super Bowl win (2010 with the Green Bay Packers) on his resume and should immediately become a prominent commodity on the head coaching market as the 2025 cycle gets underway in earnest.

NFL teams with available coaches

With the Chicago Bears, Jacksonville Jaguars, Las Vegas Raiders, New Orleans Saints, New York Jets all casting nets for their next HCs, there doesn’t exactly appear to be another white whale out there — now that Mike Vrabel has expectedly taken the new England Patriots’ job – except for Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. The Bears have already tried to talk to McCarthy — the Cowboys denied permission during their exclusive negotiating window with him — while the Jags might also be enticing given the pieces already in place on their roster.

Elsewhere, McCarthy could be uniquely qualified for the Jets, as QB Aaron Rodgers and WR Davante Adams (currently) remain under contract with the club — he both worked out with the Packers — and no one might be better able to bridge a franchise clearly. in some transitional level. But … McCarthy would have to have the guts to work for Woody Johnson, who is only a rung or two below Jones when it comes to ownership involvement.

Bill Belichick?

It has already been reported that several NFL teams, including the Raiders, have reached out to the legendary coach, who took the University of North Carolina’s head job last month. And there was certainly speculation that Belichick could be a candidate to replace McCarthy a year ago after Dallas’ playoff flameout against Green Bay. Belichick and Jones have a close relationship, and the Cowboys bring many of the resources and talented players that could entice many potential candidates for the job.

Of course, as it pertains to Belichick, would that be enough to break his contract with UNC a month into the new adventure? There’s also the question of whether he could actually co-exist professionally with Jones — something his mentor, Hall of Famer Bill Parcells, only managed for four years. Nevertheless, it’s another option that the 72-year-old could probably consider at a point in his life and career when he essentially doesn’t have to worry much about long-term consequences.

Former NFL head coaches

Whether Belichick is viable or not, given how desperate Jones is to break his team’s Super Bowl streak, it’s one reason the owner may lean toward hiring someone with experience in a leadership role to replace McCarthy — there followed the likes of Parcells and Wade Phillips, though they preceded long-timer Jason Garrett. But this could be a more suitable opening for e.g. Pete Carroll or Kliff Kingsbury, maybe even Steve Spagnuolo, who would offer experience and theoretically a full understanding of what this very challenging job entails.

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LOSER

Aspiring NFL Head Coaches

Whether it’s Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn, Liam Coen, Joe Brady, Jesse Minter, Bobby Slowik or whatever, the Dallas job probably isn’t one where a potential first-time HC would get a ton of consideration — maybe Johnson could, but he’s also made it clear he won’t take anything but the job that’s absolutely right for him. Worse, with McCarthy now in play, there may well be fewer landing spots elsewhere in the league for hot (or relatively hot) assistants seeking their opportunity for the big promotion.

(The one notable exception might be Philadelphia Eagles OC Kellen Moore, who held the same role in Dallas for four seasons after previously serving as the backup quarterback to Tony Romo and Dak Prescott. Moore’s coaching stakes are once again on the rise considering, (how Philly’s offense has rehabbed this season — thanks, too, Saquon Barkley — and he’d have an almost complete understanding of what it would be like to work for Jones.)

Jerry Jones

Midway through his fourth decade as owner and manager of what is almost unquestionably the nation’s most popular sports franchise, he’s once again looking for the man to lead the Cowboys, now 29 years removed from their last Super Bowl appearance (and win), back to it promised land. But despite the money, publicity (to the extent that it’s alluring) and opportunity Jones can offer, there are also aspects of his operation that work against him—namely himself. It’s not an easy needle to thread for any coach who may want to rule over his domain, establish a culture and philosophy, all while knowing Jones will remain the top banana in North Texas. Nor did Jones do himself or his team any favors by burning another week talking to McCarthy — as if it couldn’t have been resolved in the previous months — at the expense of talking to potential candidates.

And Jerry didn’t do McCarthy any favors in 2024 by dragging his feet before reaching what were basically inevitable extensions with Prescott and WR CeeDee Lamb — and after basically sitting free (despite a repeatedly stated ” all in” approach) even as a good part of the team followed former defensive coordinator Dan Quinn to the Washington Commanders, who ultimately leapfrogged the Cowboys in the division. Prospective trainers, especially those already in high demand, certainly need to keep their eyes open as to the parameters at play here.

Dak Prescott

His numbers were incredible in 2020, his first with McCarthy, though the wins didn’t come consistently until he suffered a sprained ankle in the fifth game. Prescott was the league’s Comeback Player of the Year in 2021 and its MVP runner-up last season before a broken hamstring ended his 2024 campaign prematurely. But his play was generally Pro Bowl-caliber under his now-former coach, he picked up a record four-year, $240 million contract extension last September and consistently expressed his desire for McCarthy to stay on board given the Cowboys’ high success base under his term of office. . Now? Effectively back to Square One.

Mike McCarthy

He was unable to end Dallas’ nearly three-decade championship drought, and the team’s playoff losses — two to the San Francisco 49ers and last year’s 48-32 loss to the Packers at AT&T Stadium — reflected a lack of preparation in general or situationally football and adjustments against the Niners more specifically. McCarthy has also been criticized at times for a lack of imagination schematically, although he is generally considered to be one of the league’s better players. But given the self-scouting and deep dives into analytics-based football he did between his stints in Green Bay and Dallas, it would stand to reason that McCarthy continues to refine his approach ahead of the next job he likely accepts.

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Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.