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Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones opted to stick with Mike McCarthy for the 2024 season, but he's definitely fond of another head coach.
The Cowboys' disastrous loss in the wild-card round at home to the Green Bay Packers — a 48-32 stunner — had many questioning McCarthy's future as the team's head coach.
Despite a third straight 12-5 regular season, this one ending with an NFC East title, Dallas fell short of its Super Bowl aspirations again.
However, Jones decided to give McCarthy another kick at the can.
Head coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots prepares for a game against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Dec. 12, 2022. (Norm Hall/Getty Images)
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This decision came even while Bill Belichick was, and still is, a free agent. Despite passing on Belichick to stick with McCarthy, Jones thinks he and Belichick could be a good match.
"I know him personally, and I like him," Jones said at the Senior Bowl, per Yahoo Sports. "There's no doubt in my mind we could work together. None. None."
Jones added that he didn't talk to "anybody that is a head-coaching candidate other than my own." So, despite his appreciation for Belichick, it seems that McCarthy was always Jones' answer.
Mike McCarthy of the Dallas Cowboys is shown before kickoff of the NFC wild-card playoff game against the Green Bay Packers, Jan. 14, 2024, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. (Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
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The Cowboys have been a fantastic regular-season team under McCarthy, but they have just one playoff win to show for it during his four-year tenure (he went 6-10 in his first season in 2020). For a team that hasn’t been to a Super Bowl since 1995 with an owner who demands success and nothing less than a Vince Lombardi Trophy every season, that’s not good enough.
Jones, who initially said, "We’ll see how each game goes in the playoffs," when discussing McCarthy’s future, changed his tune prior to the matchup with the Packers.
"I couldn’t be more pleased with what he’s done, and I really mean it," he said on 105.3 The Fan.
"He's the big difference this year. ... So, the last thing that I want to do is spend any time talking with him about these kinds of things — agreements, extension of agreements — especially when I've got one. So, that's it."
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, right, shakes hands with Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy after the game in Arlington, Texas, on Oct. 1, 2023. (Matthew J. Lee/Boston Globe via Getty Images)
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McCarthy’s contract with the Cowboys expires after the 2024 campaign, adding more pressure to win when next season kicks off.