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When Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones digs into his coaching search, he’ll likely prefer a coach who has a track record of winning in the NFL. He could hone in on an offensive-minded head coach who can raise the floor of his team while having some history of winning championships. And it will likely be someone he knows well, and has put up with the distractions of being Cowboys coach.
Yes, Jones’ best fit might be Mike McCarthy, the coach he just parted ways with.
McCarthy is gone and looking for a new job — funny enough, his best professional fit is probably coaching the Cowboys — and Jones will be trying to find a coach that can get his franchise back to at least the NFC championship game for the first time since the 1995 season.
Who are the best fits? Let’s take a look at five key names, with a few bonus options that will be brought up often:
Bonus: Deion Sanders
Is the reported mutual interest between Sanders and Jones legit? It seems like an unlikely fit, but you never know with Jones. There’s questions over whether Sanders’ style would play in the pros as well as it has at Colorado, but it’s hard to deny Sanders’ charisma or how he has turned around a moribund CU program. Again, with Jones, anything seems possible, as unlikely as this hire seems.
Another bonus: Bill Belichick
Maybe if the Cowboys were more forward thinking with separating from McCarthy, Belichick would still be an option. But Belichick went to coach in college, a challenge he has said he wanted to take on, and Jones is averse to paying buyouts (which is odd for the owner of a franchise worth $10.1 billion according to Forbes). It would also be a bad look for Belichick to back out of the UNC job not long after taking it. Belichick is one of the greatest coaches in NFL history and would be a good hire for Dallas, but it’s hard to see this happening.
Yet another bonus: Jason Witten
Witten has a special place in Cowboys history as a player, but it’s really hard to see Witten jumping from a high school coach to coaching the Cowboys. Jones has praised Witten in the past and said he believes Witten will be an NFL coach. Could Witten be on the Cowboys’ staff in 2025? Perhaps. It’s just a reach to think he’ll be Dallas’ next head coach. But again, never rule anything out when it comes to Jones.
Pete Carroll, former Seahawks coach
Bill Belichick’s age seemed to be a reason the NFL shunned him, and why he went to North Carolina. Carroll is a year older. Will Jones want to hire a 73-year-old coach? Perhaps if he thinks the Cowboys are close to being a championship contender. Carroll has a 170-120-1 record in the NFL with a Super Bowl ring. He had one losing season from 2012-23. Carroll also has more energy than most coaches in their 70s. If he has a plan to hire an exciting offensive coordinator, this might fit well. He’d be the kind of “win now” coach Jones coveted when he hired McCarthy.
Kellen Moore, Eagles offensive coordinator
For better or worse, Jones likes familiarity in his coaches. He knows Moore, who was on Dallas’ staff from 2018-22, the final four seasons as the team’s offensive coordinator. That means Dak Prescott knows him well too. McCarthy made a change at offensive coordinator after the 2022 season, but Moore has had two solid seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles since then. He seems like the type of hire Jones would make.
Ben Johnson, Lions offensive coordinator
Johnson would be a different type of hire for Jones, because he doesn’t have any head-coaching experience and would cost a lot of money. So that makes it unlikely the Cowboys would make a push for the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator. But after almost three decades without a trip to the NFL’s final four, maybe Jones should try something new. Johnson is the hot coordinator in the league for his work with the Lions offense, which led the NFL in scoring this season. Every other team seems to want Johnson, and the Cowboys should be interested too. We’ll see.
Aaron Glenn, Lions defensive coordinator
Another Lions coordinator might be a fit. Glenn does have some history with the Cowboys, playing two seasons in Dallas late in his career. Glenn hasn’t been a head coach yet but he has a lot of respect around the NFL for his leadership and defensive acumen. He has done a great job as the Lions’ defensive coordinator this season. He might be a fantastic fit in Dallas.
Kliff Kingsbury, Commanders offensive coordinator
There will be college coaches like Steve Sarkisian and Marcus Freeman who are part of the speculation, but the hit rate among college coaches going to the NFL is very low. And it has been a long time since Jones won championships with successful college coaches Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer. It seems more likely that as with other Jones hires like Bill Parcells, Wade Phillips and McCarthy, Jones would rather a coach with some NFL experience. Maybe Doug Pederson would be an option, but he’s coming off a poor couple of seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars. While Kliff Kingsbury’s time coaching the Arizona Cardinals didn’t go that well, he did some fine work as Commanders offensive coordinator this season. He doesn’t have direct Cowboys ties but he’s from Texas, played and coached at Texas Tech and spent time on the staffs at Houston and Texas A&M. Maybe that will check enough boxes for Jones to feel comfortable with the hire.