'We Know How To Win!' Cowboys Coach Mike McCarthy Confident in Super Bowl Future
FRISCO - Cowboys owner Jerry Jones announced on Wednesday that the team will honor the final year on coach Mike McCarthy's contract next season. After a disappointing 48-32 loss to the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card game at AT&T Stadium - McCarthy's third playoff loss in four tries - speculation ran wild that Jones might replace his head coach.
But that speculation ended on Wednesday.
Now, McCarthy will enter the final year of his five-year deal with Jones and the Cowboys with his future beyond 2024 up in the air. McCarthy was asked about a potential new deal for 2025 and beyond.
“I’ve never talked about players’ contracts, coaches’ contracts. I’m not going to start today,” McCarthy said. “I will say I’m very confident in the direction. I like where we are moving forward, I’m very confident where I am.”
McCarthy arrived in Dallas in 2020 with the expectations that the Super Bowl-winning coach could get the Cowboys deep into the playoffs. With a loaded roster that oozes talent, McCarthy has yet to do so.
In 2021, after a 12-5 regular season, Dallas suffered a 23-17 road loss to the 49ers in the Wild Card round in a game where McCarthy was heavily criticized for questionable clock management that many thought cost the Cowboys the game.
In 2022, the Cowboys repeated their 12-5 record and beat Tom Brady and the Buccaneers 31-14 in Tampa for the team's first road playoff win since 1992. But Dallas was beaten again by the 49ers 19-12 in San Francisco, ending their season prematurely.
This year, McCarthy and the Cowboys again matched their 12-5 mark from the previous two seasons. But after earning a home playoff game Dallas was manhandled by the visiting Packers 48-32 in a game that wasn't as close as the final score indicated.
Jones was on record earlier in the season saying McCarthy and his staff would be graded on their final game of the season. Based on that statement, many thought changes would be made.
While teams don't normally allow a head coach to enter the final season of his deal without an extension, Jones does have a history of this. McCarthy's predecessor, Jason Garrett received his extension after his first contract but was allowed to walk after his most recent contract expired.
McCarthy says he feels good about his team and the roster he's built in four seasons in Dallas. But for him to earn a second contract from Jones, one would think that will have to translate to playoff wins ... plural, in 2024.
