Report: Mike McCarthy won't coach for 2025 season, to wait for 2026 cycle

Former Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy will reportedly take a year away from the sidelines, according to a report from the NFL Network.

Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero jointly noted on Twitter that McCarthy has “decided to focus on the 2026 hiring cycle and will not coach in the NFL this season.” He was still considered one of the hottest candidates on the market, but openings were drying up.

At this point, only the New Orleans Saints remain with a vacant head coaching position.

Just one day ago, Mike McCarthy had been tabbed as one of the favorites, if not the favorite, to land the Saints job by ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter.

“If we go back to the start of this hiring cycle, most people looked at the New Orleans Saints job and figured that the two names that figure prominently in their search would be Aaron Glenn and Mike McCarthy,” Schefter said Monday on SportsCenter. “Aaron Glenn got the head coaching job in New York with the Jets and had his introductory press conference today. Mike McCarthy is still out there and he’s expected to interview this week for the New Orleans Saints head coaching job…

“I think a lot of people around the league still look to Mike McCarthy as a name that would make a lot of sense in New Orleans. I think right now, he is certainly a favorite, if not the favorite, for the job. But they are still going through their process and we will see how it plays out here in the days to come.”

Obviously with McCarthy expected to take himself out of the running New Orleans will have to head in a different direction. But the Saints have some options after things never materialized with McCarthy.

They reportedly flew to Philadelphia on Monday night to meet with Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, another hot coaching name this cycle.

In five years with Dallas, Mike McCarthy boasted a 49-35 overall record. Two NFC East titles were brought home but the lack of playoff success is what ended the relationship. The Cowboys crashed out on three different occasions, winning just once in the postseason under McCarthy’s leadership.

Still, he’ll likely be one of the top coaches on the market in the 2026 coaching cycle.