Mike McCarthy as Chicago Bears’ head coach? Absolutely, totally, 100% not.

McCarthy had five years to make magic with the Dallas Cowboys. He didn’t.

McCarthy looks fine in Cowboys blue. But let's keep in out of Chicago blue, shall we? | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Over the last five seasons, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has been injured. Like, a lot.

• 2021: Calf strain.

• 2022: Thumb fracture.

• 2024: Hamstring.

Prescott's five injury-marred seasons coincided with the regime of head coach Mike McCarthy.

We aren’t saying that McCarthy had anything to do with Prescott’s many trips to the ER—far from it—but we are saying that the former Packers headman's tenure has been a massive disappointment, with or without Prescott in the mix.

The Cowboys Coulda Been Contenders

McCarthy’s lack of next-level success in Dallas certainly wasn't due to a lack of talent, as nine of his ’Boys earned either first- or second-team All-Pro honors:

• Zack Martin (RG) 4x

• Micah Parsons (LB) 3x

• CeeDee Lamb (WR) 2x

• Brandon Aubrey (K), Bryan Anger (P), DaRon Bland (CB), Tyler Smith (LG), Tyron Smith (LT), and KaVonte Turpin (KR)

The 61-year-old football lifer had some horses in Dallas, who he led to a pretty good regular season record of 49-35. But he also led them to a really bad postseason record of 1-3.

All of which is why GM Ryan Poles and everybody on the Bears' staff should delete McCarthy’s name from their contacts list.

Members of #Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy's staff have now been informed that the two sides are separating and his contract will expire. McCarthy is free to speak with other teams -- #Saints and #Bears are at the top of the list.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 13, 2025

Now that McCarthy is a free agent, the Bears have the opportunity to bring him in for a chat—this after being denied access just last week—but why bother? After all, what does he bring to the table, other than experience?

Despite a decent batch of players, McCarthy wasn’t able to make any significant noise in Big D, so there’s little reason to think he’d be able to lead the Bears and their meh roster to a Super Bowl. A Wild Card berth, maybe. But a Lombardi, not so much.

And isn’t the point not to get better, but to be the best? McCarthy would likely improve the Bears, but not nearly enough to walk away from a Todd Monken, or a Kliff Kingsbury, or, of course, a Ben Johnson.

Settling for Mike McCarthy would mean settling for a .250 playoff winning percentage. And after not winning consecutive postseason games since 2007, that shouldn’t be anywhere close to good enough for the Chicago Bears.

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