Legendary Dallas Cowboys quarterback and Hall of Famer Troy Aikman addressed a variety of topics during a Tuesday event, including the future of team owner and general manager Jerry Jones retaining Mike McCarthy as the head coach, despite McCarthy’s 1-3 postseason record with the club.
Aikman expressed his belief that it makes “the most sense” for both McCarthy and the current Dallas starting quarterback, Dak Prescott, to return for another season, even though Prescott holds a 2-5 record in seven career playoff starts.
“If you make a (head coaching) change, then you’re basically making a change for the same reason you made changes back a few years ago when you brought Mike in and you’re bringing in then somebody who you believe is going to get you over the top. Just like they felt Mike is that guy to do it. But you don’t know the answer to that until, once again, you get back to January.”
ESPN’s Todd Archer highlighted on Wednesday that both McCarthy and Prescott’s contracts are set to expire after the 2024 season.
Recent reports indicated that someone within the Cowboys organization had shown interest in former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, although Belichick did not reciprocate that interest.
Meanwhile, Aikman emphasized on Tuesday that the Dallas team, which secured the NFC East division title with a 12-5 record, had a “really good year,” despite their loss to the Green Bay Packers in a home wild-card playoff game on January 14, with a score of 48-32.
“The way that they were playing at the end of the year, they positioned themselves to be the No. 2 seed. I thought it was good.”
Although Aikman expressed confidence in McCarthy, it’s widely believed that Jerry Jones may not tolerate another one-and-done playoff exit next January.
In fact, anything less than the Cowboys making it to the 2025 NFC Championship Game could potentially jeopardize Mike McCarthy’s position as head coach.
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