On Monday, the Dallas Cowboys officially decided to move on from head coach Mike McCarthy, whose contract with the organization was up. After weighing McCarthy’s future, owner Jerry Jones ultimately opted not to renew his deal.
McCarthy went 49-35 in five seasons with the Cowboys and won just seven games this year, failing to live up to preseason expectations. Dallas went 12-5 in McCarthy’s second, third, and fourth seasons but earned no more than one playoff win in those three appearances. What’s next for the Cowboys? Here are several candidates Dallas may target.
Who Will Replace Mike McCarthy In Dallas?
Here are seven coaching candidates who could be a good fit for the Cowboys.
Ben Johnson, OC, Detroit Lions
Ben Johnson can become an NFL head coach the moment he decides he wants to.
Multiple clubs — including the Panthers and Commanders, for starters — have reportedly wanted to hire Detroit’s OC over the past few offseasons. Instead, Johnson has turned down opportunities, preferring to stick and build with the Lions.
How much longer he’s willing to wait remains unclear. Johnson is just 38 years old and highly coveted thanks to his success as the offensive coordinator in Detroit. Johnson has been involved with the Lions offense since 2019, taking over the reins as the coordinator in 2022. Their stock has soared this season, but it’s been a progression, something that points to a true impact as opposed to a single strong season.
Detroit’s Offensive Touchdown Rate By Season
- 2021 (before Johnson took over): 19.7% TD rate
- 2022: 29.5% TD rate
- 2023: 30.5% TD rate
- 2024: 37.4% TD rate
The running game is as good as it gets, allowing Jared Goff to flourish (posting career highs in completion percentage, yards per pass, and touchdowns).
Reckless playcalling can occasionally inflate offensive numbers, but that isn’t the case with Johnson. The Lions don’t need to put the ball in harm’s way to access their elite offensive ceiling. Their two lowest turnover rate seasons this millennium (2022 and 2024) have come since Johnson took over, giving them a no-risk, all-reward profile.
In the four seasons before Johnson assumed OC duties, Detroit ranked 14th in turnover rate, 23rd in points per drive, and 24th in punt percentage. In Goff’s last two seasons with the Rams, Los Angeles ranked 23rd in scoring percentage and 24th in turnover rate, and it wasn’t immediately better when he first joined Detroit in 2021 (22nd in scoring percentage and turnover rate).
We live in an offensive-driven league, and Johnson’s resume speaks for itself – at a young age, he’s proven capable of elevating the pieces around him in a significant way, something every team in the NFL finds appealing.
Todd Monken, OC, Baltimore Ravens
Todd Monken was a collegiate quarterback, and much was expected of him when he elected to return to the professional game after spending three seasons in Georgia as their offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach. He not only lived up to the hype, he’s overachieved.
During his two seasons with the Ravens, Baltimore leads the AFC in scoring, with Lamar Jackson playing like an MVP for almost every moment. Many coaches are beholden to a system and are tempted to bend their roster to fit their system, but this season has proven that Monken is more than happy to adjust to the strengths of his specific roster.
In 2023, the Ravens ranked 11th in pass rate over expectation, opting to let Jackson decide games rather than banking on a running back without a proven bellcow. That faith earned his quarterback some hardware, and he won an NFL-high 13 games.
Last offseason, Baltimore jumped at the opportunity to add Derrick Henry, a player who is essentially an offense unto himself. Monken not only adjusted his play-calling (29th in pass rate over expectation this season), but he leveraged his new-look unit to further the development of his franchise quarterback.
We are talking about one of the best offensive minds in the sport who is still on the right side of 60 years old. Due to the direction of the NFL, a coach like this is currently valued as high as ever.
Ron Rivera, Free Agent
Former linebacker Ron Rivera knew how to build strong defenses and bounce back after rough seasons. During his first three seasons as the Panthers’ head coach, Carolina improved from the 27th-ranked scoring defense in 2011 to 18th in 2012 and second in 2013.
Similarly, Washington was the 27th-ranked scoring defense the year before Rivera arrived in 2019 and jumped immediately to fourth in 2020. The Washington Football Team ranked third in PFN’s Defense+ metric in 2020 and fourth in 2022.
And while Rivera’s teams didn’t always sustain elite defensive production, they typically bounced back from down years. For example, Washington fell to the 22nd-ranked scoring defense in 2021 but improved to third in 2022. And after Carolina fell from second to 21st in 2014, the Panthers bounced back to sixth in 2015.
From 2011-19, the Panthers committed the fewest penalties in the league. Similarly, the Commanders committed the fifth-fewest penalties from 2020-23 with Rivera as their coach. This wasn’t a case where either franchise was particularly strong at avoiding penalties either. The Commanders ranked 14th in penalties the year before Rivera arrived in 2019, while the Panthers ranked 25th in penalties the year before he got there in 2010.
Rivera’s famous nickname “Riverboat Ron” was well-earned. The Panthers were one of the most conservative fourth-down offenses during Rivera’s first five seasons from 2011-15. In that span, Carolina went for it on fourth down at the fourth-lowest rate (9.6%) overall and fourth-lowest rate in opponent territory (16.5%). But from 2016-19, the Panthers went for it on fourth down at the ninth-highest rate (15.3%) and the sixth-highest in opponent territory (26.6%).
Carolina added the 10th-most EPA on fourth-down decisions during this span. This carried over to Washington, though Rivera was more situational about his fourth-down aggressiveness. The Commanders had the 12th-highest go-for-it rate from 2020-23 but the ninth-highest in opponent territory.
Pete Carroll, Free Agent
The hiring of Pete Carroll comes with a very easy data point to reference and it’s a convincing one: success.
During his peak time in Seattle (2012-20), the Seahawks (68.4%) trailed only the dynastic New England Patriots in win percentage, had four divisional titles, and, of course, went to the Super Bowl in consecutive years (winning it all in 2013). That’s not a bad run for a coach who took over a franchise that won a total of nine games in the two seasons prior to his hire (in his 14 seasons: 9.8 wins per season).
Even at the end of that peak, Carroll was getting a ton out of his players. Despite having a defensive background, he was able to put together an offense around a veteran QB that earned a ‘B’ in our Offense+ grading metric (for reference, that’s a higher mark than the Minnesota Vikings or Kansas City Chiefs produced this season).
Russell Wilson had a career season (68.8% complete and 40 touchdowns) and it showed that a Carroll team could succeed at a high level, even five years removed from that Legion of Boom era that dominated on that side of the ball.
Speaking of that Legion of Boom, the winning equity they brought to the table ranks up there with any defensive unit in the history of this game. During their peak (2012-15), the Seahawks coughed up just 1.33 points per possession, a rate that was 11.9% better than any other defense over that stretch and would have paced the league this season by over 18%.
The secondary generated the highlights and the sound bites, but this unit excelled at everything and the thought of rekindling that potential is enticing for any franchise. Carroll cut his teeth at the collegiate level on the defensive side of the ball and there is where he made his first impact on the NFL, so it stands to reason that a team could sell itself on his ability to build up that side of the ball.
Carroll’s resume on the offensive end is highlighted by the selecting and developing of Wilson while the defensive peak is stamped by one of the most dominant runs we’ve ever seen.
Kellen Moore, OC, Philadelphia Eagles
If Jones wants to go with a familiar face, perhaps he gives former Cowboys quarterback and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore a call. The two already have a relationship, which could help Moore move to the front of the line.
Moore’s name has been on the head coaching radar for quite some time now, and the more the rules shift toward the offensive side of the ball, the more it’s no wonder. Not only did Moore throw for 14,667 yards during his time as a player at Boise State, but he’s led successful offenses in Dallas, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia as a coordinator.
He’s largely had the benefit of a franchise QB on his roster, but his ability to elevate those talents has been evident since he helped Dak Prescott up his yards per pass rate by 10.8% in his first season with the Cowboys.
His ingenuity has been showcased most in play-action situations. The game is moving toward rewarding those who succeed in these plays (the 49ers led in play-action passer rating last season on their way to winning the NFC, while the Eagles/Chiefs were both top-five in that regard a season ago before meeting in the Super Bowl), and Moore is continually improving.
- Cowboys (2019-22): 103.5 play-action passer rating
- Chargers (2023): 107.9 play-action passer rating
- Eagles (2024): 114.5 play-acton passer rating
Philadelphia ranked seventh in red zone trips per game this season, thanks in large part to a suppressed turnover rate. Under Moore’s watch this season, the Eagles have the fourth-lowest giveaway rate, a large reason why this team enters this postseason with more hope than they did a season ago (30th in turnover rate).
Deion Sanders, HC, Colorado
If Jones wants to make a splash and ensure that Dallas will remain the talk of the sports world, perhaps he calls former Cowboys cornerback Deion Sanders.
Sanders did a terrific job leading the Colorado Buffaloes this season, producing a pair of potential top-five picks in the 2025 NFL Draft (Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter).
KEEP READING: Why Did the Dallas Cowboys Fire Mike McCarthy?
Sanders was a star cornerback for Dallas from 1995-1999, helping the team win a Super Bowl. Sanders had a Hall-of-Fame career and earned a number of accolades, including an NFL Defensive Player of the Year award, eight All-Pro selections, eight Pro Bowl nods, and a spot on the NFL’s 100th Anniversary All-Time Team and 1990s All-Decade Team.
As a coach, Jackson has had successful stints at Jackson State and Colorado, and he has an all-time record of 40-18. Just as he was during his playing days, Coach Prime is polarizing because he’s brash and doesn’t lack confidence.
It remains to be seen if Sanders will draw interest from Dallas (or any NFL team, for that matter), but given his rise to prominence in the coaching world and his connections to Jones and the Cowboys, he had to be featured on this list.