Dallas Cowboys to retain Mike McCarthy despite blowout loss to Packers

Mike McCarthy will return as head coach for the Dallas Cowboys in 2024, Adam Schefter of ESPN reported Wednesday.

Dallas’ decision to retain McCarthy for another season comes on the heels of the 48-32 NFC Wild Card Round defeat to the Green Bay Packers this past Sunday.

This just in: Dallas is not making a head-coaching change and Cowboys’ HC Mike McCarthy is returning for the 2024 season, per sources. pic.twitter.com/GHMJuqdxaT

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 18, 2024

Jerry Jones releases statement

“I believe this team is very close and capable of achieving our ultimate goals and the best step forward for us will be with Mike McCarthy as our head coach,” Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said in a statement. “There is great benefit to continuing the team’s progress under Mike’s leadership as our head coach. Specifically, there are many layers of success that have occurred this season as a result of Mike’s approach to leading the team, both with individual players and with our team collectively.

“Mike has the highest regular season winning percentage of any head coach in Cowboys history and we will dedicate ourselves, in partnership with him, to translating that into reaching our post season goals. Certainly, Mike’s career has demonstrated post season success at a high level, and we have great confidence that can continue.

“Further, our loss on Sunday is shared by everyone here, not just Coach McCarthy. Our players. Our coaches [and] front office. Myself. There is accountability for our results. I am accountable for our results. The lens we use to view and evaluate Coach McCarthy is holistic. While we’re all disappointed with the result on Sunday and with our playoff record, I am 100 percent supportive of him as our head coach and ability to reach our goals.

“We will start our process of review and decision making regarding everything that impacts our team and roster and, while we’re not going to address specific players and extensions or free agents at this point, it deserves our deepest review and consideration, and it will get it.”

Cowboys keep the status quo by retaining Mike McCarthy

McCarthy just wrapped up his fourth season with the Cowboys, guiding the team to their third consecutive 12-5 finish. Dallas capped it off with an NFC East title, outlasting the reigning NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles. Playoff success, however, has been hard to come by. The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Cowboys in both 2021 and ’22 before the Packers throttled them inside AT&T Stadium.

The 2024 campaign is the final year of McCarthy’s contract. McCarthy’s predecessor, Jason Garrett, was also allowed to coach into the final year of his contract before parting ways with the organization after the 2019 season. Speculation he wouldn’t make it to the 2024 season began immediately after the loss — a loss which Jones admitted came as one of the biggest surprises he’s ever seen in sports.

“I’m floored,” Jones said following the game.

For at least one more year, McCarthy will get a chance to turn around the Cowboys’ playoff misfortunes. The franchise will have several key decisions to make, including whether to sign quarterback Dak Prescott to an extension or not. Linebacker Micah Parsons and receiver CeeDee Lamb are also due substantial raises.