Mike McCarthy’s tenure as the Dallas Cowboys’ head coach is entering its final stages. While McCarthy posted three consecutive 12-win seasons from 2021 to 2023, the Cowboys won just a single playoff game during that stretch.
McCarthy entered the 2024 campaign as a lame-duck coach after Jerry Jones refused to extend his contract. With quarterback Dak Prescott (hamstring) out for the season, Dallas is 3-6 and going nowhere fast.
Jones admitted that he’s regretted in-season firings in the past and is not expected to part ways with McCarthy before this year is complete. However, McCarthy will almost surely be let go heading into 2025, opening up one of the NFL‘s most prestigious head coaching jobs.
Who will Jones consider to replace McCarthy next year? Let’s run through 10 potential options, starting with arguably the greatest NFL head coach of all time.
Who Should Replace Cowboys Head Coach Mike McCarthy in 2025?
Bill Belichick, Former HC, New England Patriots
Bill Belichick figures to hold the most appeal for Jones, who hired Bill Parcells — Belichick’s longtime confidant, mentor, and cohort — as Dallas’ head coach in 2003. And as Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer noted in January, Belichick already has a “very solid relationship” with Jones thanks to the duo’s work at the owners’ meetings.
The six-time Super Bowl winner makes sense for the Cowboys, and Dallas makes sense for the 71-year-old Belichick, who probably doesn’t want to take on a rebuild at this point in his career. He can bring in Josh McDaniels to coordinate a Dak Prescott-led offense, while Micah Parsons could be Belichick’s 2020s Lawerence Taylor.
Bill Belichick praises the #Cowboys for finding players like Brandon Aubrey, KaVontae Turpin, and DeMarvion Overshown.
He says to supplement the high priced players like Dak & CeeDee, you have to hit on those guys.
Belichick sounds enthusiastic about Dallas.
(🎥: @JoshNorris) pic.twitter.com/YWTOpMDZmG
— Brandon Loree (@Brandoniswrite) September 13, 2024
Belichick the head coach is still effective. Belichick the GM may not be. He discussed ceding personnel control before ultimately parting ways with the New England Patriots this year and seemed amenable to giving up front-office power.
“Yeah, look, I’m for whatever, collectively, we decide as an organization is the best thing to help our football team,” Belichick said. “And I have multiple roles in that, and I rely on a lot of people to help me in those responsibilities. If somebody’s got to have the final say, I have it, and I rely on a lot of other people to help. And, however that process is, I’m only part of it.”
Cowboys VP of player personnel Will McClay has been running the club’s drafts for the past decade, adding All-Pro level talents like Zack Martin, CeeDee Lamb, Trevon Diggs, Parsons, and Tyler Smith in the first round while finding contributors on Days 2 and 3.
If Belichick is willing to let McClay handle the NFL Draft while he coaches and tries to find free agent bargains, this marriage could work.
Mike Vrabel, Former HC, Tennessee Titans
Mike Vrabel went 54-45 as the Tennessee Titans’ head coach and won 2021 Coach of the Year before being fired in the 2024 offseason. Coaches with Vrabel’s track record typically don’t take an involuntary year off at the age of 48, and he drew interest around the NFL after being let go in Tennessee, interviewing with the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, and Los Angeles Chargers.
Vrabel is spending this season as a coaching and personnel consultant for the Cleveland Browns but figures to get back on the HC interview circuit in 2025. It probably doesn’t hurt that the Titans have started 2-6 without him on the sidelines.
Three of Jones’ last four head-coaching hires — McCarthy, Wade Phillips, and Parcells — had previous HC experience. If the Cowboys’ owner wants another head coach who’s done the job before, Vrabel will be on Dallas’ radar.
Ben Johnson, OC, Detroit Lions
Ben Johnson can become an NFL head coach the moment he wants to. The Detroit Lions offensive coordinator has interviewed for myriad jobs over the past few offseasons, while the Panthers and Washington Commanders seemingly wanted to hire Johnson as their HC.
Instead, Johnson stayed in the Motor City and continued working under Dan Campbell. However, if the Lions win the Super Bowl next February, Johnson might finally be ready to look for a head coaching opportunity.
Johnson will likely get to write his own head coaching ticket, so the Cowboys may need to sell themselves to the 38-year-old instead of the other way around.
Boasting a quarterback like Prescott will give Dallas an early advantage over other teams with HC vacancies. Jones has typically been patient with his head coaches, another feather in the Cowboys’ cap. Will it be enough to warrant Johnson’s attention?
Aaron Glenn, DC, Detroit Lions
Campbell might lose both of his coordinators this offseason. Defensive play-caller Aaron Glenn will undoubtedly join Johnson on the 2025 interview circuit and could hold an appeal for the Cowboys if they want to hire a defensive-minded head coach.
Just ask Lions players whether Glenn deserves to be an NFL head coach. The 52-year-old finished first in a 2023 NFLPA survey that asked players to rate their coaches.
Glenn has interviewed for HC positions in each of the last four offseasons; he took four meetings in 2024 but failed to land a job. That could change next year, especially if Detroit makes a deep playoff run. The Lions’ defense ranks second in EPA per play and seventh in success rate, while Aidan Hutchinson was an early favorite for Defensive Player of the Year before suffering a season-ending injury in Week 6.
Deion Sanders, HC, University of Colorado
Deion Sanders, Dallas Cowboys head coach. If Jones’ primary objective is keeping his team in the news, Sanders could be the obvious choice in 2025.
Sanders was a dominant cornerback for the Cowboys from 1995 through 1999, earning four All-Pro nods (three first-team) while winning Super Bowl 30. He’d join a group of successful former players who’ve returned to coach their teams, including the Lions with Campbell and the Houston Texans with DeMeco Ryans.
"Deion [Sanders] is actually the perfect person for this situation."
—@Foxworth24 on how Deion Sanders could be the solution for the Cowboys 🍿 pic.twitter.com/daTfG6ezvw
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) November 12, 2024
Bringing Prime back to Dallas would ensure that the Cowboys got plenty of national attention, but Sanders also has a track record of success.
After winning consecutive SWAC championships at Jackson State, Sanders took over at Colorado in 2023, turning a 1-11 squad into a 4-9 team in his first season at the helm. This year, the Buffaloes are 7-2 and ranked inside of the top 25.
Joe Brady, OC, Buffalo Bills
What a whirlwind it’s been for Joe Brady in the last few years. Coming off a national championship season as LSU’s passing game coordinator, Brady became the Panthers’ OC in 2020 and interviewed for five NFL head coaching positions the following offseason.
Ex-Carolina HC Matt Rhule fired Brady midway through the 2021 campaign, but Brady rebounded, joining the Buffalo Bills as the QBs coach in 2022 before taking over for fired OC Ken Dorsey in Nov. 2023.
Josh Allen is in the MVP conversation, while Buffalo is 8-2. The Bills’ offense ranks second in scoring and third in efficiency. If Buffalo keeps rolling, Brady will receive plenty of offseason interview requests. Jones might be open to the idea of hiring a young up-and-comer — like the 35-year-old Brady — who could stick around for a while.
Kliff Kingsbury, OC, Washington Commanders
Although the Cowboys haven’t played the Commanders yet this season, Dallas will have an opportunity to see what its division rival is capable of in Weeks 12 and 18.
Assuming that Jayden Daniels and Co. keep dominating through the end of the year, the Cowboys might be interested in Washington OC Kliff Kingsbury, who’s put himself squarely back into the head coaching mix.
Pushing aside concerns that his scheme was too stagnant and lacked creativity, Kingsbury has expertly designed an offense tailored to Daniels’ strengths. If the season ended today, the LSU product would be the easy pick for Offensive Rookie of the Year; given that he’s second in the league in EPA per dropback (0.28), Daniels is also in the MVP conversation.
Whether that will instantly make NFL owners like Jones forget Kingsbury’s 2022 campaign in Arizona — when the Cardinals finished 4-13 and Kingsbury clashed with QB Kyler Murray — remains unclear. But the 45-year-old has likely opened eyes around the NFL with his 2024 performance.
Todd Monken, OC, Baltimore Ravens
Todd Monken probably should’ve received head coaching interest after turning a Jameis Winston/Ryan Fitzpatrick-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense into the 12th-most efficient unit in the NFL six years ago. Since then, he’s won two NCAA titles as Georgia’s offensive coordinator and returned to the pros to coach 2023 NFL MVP Lamar Jackson.
His age (58) will work against him, but Monken would bring the schematic flexibility that teams strive to attain. He’s consistently earned rave reviews from his players.
And there’s no arguing with results. The Baltimore Ravens rank No. 1 in points per game (31.8). Baltimore’s offense is both efficient (first in EPA per play) and explosive — 15.1% of their plays have gone for 12+ yards, the best rate in the NFL.
If Jackson wins his second consecutive MVP and Derrick Henry earns Offensive Player of the Year honors, how can Monken not get a head coaching job in 2025?
Brian Flores, DC, Minnesota Vikings
Brian Flores is a schematic problem solver. Tasked with revamping a Minnesota Vikings defense that was light on talent in 2023, the former Miami Dolphins head coach made it work by vacillating between big blitzes and dropping eight, showing certain coverages before rotating to a new look post-snap and generally confusing every quarterback his defense faced.
Flores has maintained his diabolical sense of scheming this season. No defense has been more efficient (-0.20 EPA per play) over the first 10 weeks of the year. Still, there are reasons to think Flores could have a hard time landing another head coaching job.
Flores went 24-25 over three years as Miami’s head coach, but he never made the playoffs and didn’t embrace or optimize future Pro Bowl QB Tua Tagovailoa. He’s also suing the NFL and several teams for racial discrimination after failing to land a head coaching position during the 2022 offseason.
NFL owners might be reticent to hire an individual involved in active litigation against the league, but Flores deserves another opportunity.
Jesse Minter, DC, Los Angeles Chargers
Looking for the next Mike Macdonald? It might be Jesse Minter, who replaced Macdonald at the University of Michigan before following Jim Harbaugh to the Los Angeles Chargers this offseason.
The Bolts haven’t exactly faced a murderer’s row of opposing offenses through 10 weeks, but Minter has gotten the most out of a defensive roster that isn’t overly talented. The Chargers rank first in points allowed per game (13.1) and fourth in EPA per play on defense.
Minter’s profile will only increase if L.A.’s defense can hold up over the next four weeks against the Cincinnati Bengals, Ravens, Falcons, and Kansas City Chiefs.
