01/13/25 11:51:00
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01/13 11:49 CST Mike McCarthy is not returning as coach of the Dallas Cowboys,
AP source says
Mike McCarthy is not returning as coach of the Dallas Cowboys, AP source says
By ROB MAADDI and SCHUYLER DIXON
AP Pro Football Writers
DALLAS (AP) --- Mike McCarthy is not returning as coach of the Dallas Cowboys,
who are going on three decades since their last Super Bowl title, a person with
knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press on Monday.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because a decision hasn't
been announced. They said Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and McCarthy agreed to part
ways.
The coach's contract expired following a 7-10 season. Dallas was 12-5 each of
the three years before that, but still hasn't been past the divisional round of
the NFC playoffs since its last Super Bowl at the end of the 1995 season.
McCarthy's contract expired Jan. 8 and the Cowboys have an exclusive
negotiation window through Tuesday, but the parties have decided to split ahead
of the deadline.
At least one other NFL team asked during that time about talking to the
61-year-old coach who won a Super Bowl with Green Bay.
Next season will be the 30th for the Cowboys since winning the last of their
five Super Bowl titles during the 1995 season. They haven't even been past the
divisional round of the NFC playoffs since then.
Before taking the Dallas job after a full season out of coaching, McCarthy was
with the Packers for 13 seasons and had a 125-77-2 record from 2006-18. He was
10-8 in the playoffs and led Green Bay to a Super Bowl title won at AT&T
Stadium, the home of the Cowboys, 14 years ago.
There were also three other NFC championship games for McCarthy in Green Bay,
and that is what Jones envisioned --- and more --- when he hired the coach in
2020 after Jason Garrett never got that far in his 10 years.
McCarthy finished with a 50-38 record in Dallas, including a 1-3 mark in the
playoffs. That included last season, when the Cowboys were NFC East champions
and had won 16 consecutive home games before trailing by 32 points in the
fourth quarter of a 48-32 wild-card loss to the seventh-seeded Packers.
Dallas played the final nine games this season without franchise quarterback
Dak Prescott because of a torn hamstring. Top receiver CeeDee Lamb, seven-time
Pro Bowl guard Zack Martin, cornerback Trevon Diggs and rushing defending
DeMarcus Lawrence also finished the season on injured reserve.
Garrett had the franchise's second-longest coaching tenure. Hall of Fame coach
Tom Landry was the coach for the Cowboys' first 29 seasons, the same number of
seasons they have now gone since winning a Super Bowl. Jones fired two-time
Super Bowl winner Landry when he bought the Cowboys before the 1989 season.
Only 12 NFL coaches have more career regular-season wins than McCarthy's 174,
which is still far behind Don Shula's record 328. The only active coaches with
more wins than McCarthy are Andy Reid (302 wins over 29 seasons) and Mike
Tomlin (183 wins in 18 seasons).
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Maaddi reported from Tampa, Florida.
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