Mike McCarthy is on the hot seat despite holding a Cowboys coaching record

Mike McCarthy is on the hot seat despite holding a Cowboys coaching record

There’s no question that Mike McCarthy is coaching for his job with the Dallas Cowboys in 2024. Set to enter the season with an expiring contract, McCarthy’s on unusually shaky ground for the coach with the best win-loss record in franchise history.

That’s right; not Tom Landry or Jimmy Johnson. Not even Barry Switzer, who swooped in and scooped up wins off of Johnson’s foundation. It’s McCarthy, who after three consecutive 12-5 regular seasons is 42-25 with a .627 winning percentage. He narrowly edges Swizter’s 40-24 record (.625%) from his four-year run with Dallas in the mid-90s.

What’s even more impressive is that McCarthy’s record suffers from that 6-10 start in 2020. If not for trying to start his Dallas run during the COVID-19 pandemic and losing QB Dak Prescott for 11 games to a leg injury, McCarthy would probably have several more wins and a wider margin between Switzer and the rest of the field.

1. Mike McCarthy 42-25 (.627)
2. Barry Switzer 40-24 (.625)
3. Wade Phillips 34-22 (.607)
4. Tom Landry 250-162-6 (.607)
5. Chan Gailey 18-14 (.563)
6. Jason Garrett 85-67 (.559)
7. Jimmy Johnson 44-36 (.550)
8. Bill Parcells 34-30 (.531)
9. Dave Campo 15-33 (.313)

Some NFL franchises would be quick to commit to a coach who’s brought them so much overall success. But McCarthy’s 1-3 postseason record is the noose currently tightening around his neck. Three-straight 12-5 seasons are nullified by three-straight playoff exits, especially given how Dallas has been outclassed in those losses. It was one thing when Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers seemed to have the Cowboys’ number, but last year’s embarrassing home loss to the Packers was the worst yet.

McCarthy was brought in to elevate the team from the cycle of the Jason Garrett years. Garrett wasn’t nearly as consistent as McCarthy, but he did win some division titles, and three times won 10+ games in his nine years as a full head coach. It can be argued that Garrett was working with inferior talent to what Dallas currently enjoys, If you look at Dallas’ playoff losses in 2014 and 2016, both were arguably better showings than McCarthy’s Cowboys have had.

One could argue that if not for Micah Parsons’ arrival in 2021, McCarthy might not have made it this far. He and Dan Quinn lucked out with a generational talent that suddenly made the Cowboys’ defense a strength, helping them overcome a declining offensive line and rushing attack to remain competitive against the majority of NFL teams.

That’s why Mike McCarthy is heading into 2024 with no certainty about his future. With Mike Zimmer waiting in the wings, who knows if McCarthy will even make it to the final game? It might seem unfair given his record so far in Dallas, but so far he hasn’t fulfilled his assignment. Even with the franchise’s best win-loss record to date, the end results haven't improved from the last regime.