Mike

McCarthy

McCarthy has decided to forego coaching for the 2025 season and will focus on the 2026 hiring cycle. The Saints head coaching job was the last one available, but with Eagles OC Kellen Moore emerging as a frontrunner, it was not enticing enough for McCarthy to keep his name in New Orleans’ search. He coached the Cowboys for the past five seasons, but parted ways with the team after the 2024 season. McCarthy has made the playoffs in 12-of-18 head coaching seasons between the Packers and Cowboys, including a Super Bowl XLV win. The Saints now turn to their remaining head coaching options, Kellen Moore chief among them.

This interview was forecasted last week, but now the two sides officially appear ready to speak. Per Underhill, the “logistics are still being set,” and the weather could play a factor in when the meeting takes place. Regardless, McCarthy will have a chance to make his pitch about how he can fix the Saints, who finished the year with a 5-12 record after getting off to a 2-0 start with back-to-back 40-point games. McCarthy has already met with the Bears and is rumored to be one of their top candidates, with Detroit’s Ben Johnson being the other.

Schultz allows that Vikings DC Brian Flores could get into the mix with a strong interview, but that would go as strongly as possible against Caleb Williams’ stated desire for an offensive-minded head coach. It would also be, frankly, not smart considering Flores’ checkered history with Tua Tagovailoa and the Bears’ entire near future being staked on Williams’ arm. This has to be a play-calling head coach, and Johnson and McCarthy are both qualified in their own way. Johnson, of course, would be vastly preferable to McCarthy, even if you can make the case McCarthy has somehow ended up a bit underrated for his work in Dallas and Green Bay.

While Williams would like an offensive-minded coach, the 2024 No. 1 overall pick remained open to considering any coach who is a “strong-minded, a leader of men.” Whether or not the Bears take Williams’ desires into consideration is to be determined, but they have met with several offensive coaches throughout the interview process, including Cardinals OC Drew Petzing, former Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy, former Seahawks HC Pete Carroll, and Lions OC Ben Johnson — to name a few. They’ve also requested a sit down with Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury, who he spent time with during their days at USC in 2023. The Bears will have a number of offensive minds to choose from to help Williams and the team improve on an offense that ranked 28th in scoring (18.2 points per game) last season. Whether or not the Bears go with an offensive-minded guy is to be determined, but the franchise QB has spoken.

This was regarded as a likely outcome following the Cowboys parting ways with McCarthy yesterday. The former Saints offensive coordinator from 2000-2004 has worked with GM Mickey Loomis before, and the Saints have prioritized trying to find people with experience in their building in this coaching search. McCarthy will speak with the Bears ahead of this interview, and those are the only two teams he’s talking to at this point. We’d expect more teams to follow shortly.

The Bears have wasted no time in pursuing their next head coach, with Mike McCarthy the next name on their list as they do their due diligence. The Cowboys chose not to renew McCarthy’s contract earlier Monday and he has already received two interview requests from other franchises. It appears as if he’ll have the chance to land on his feet after spending the previous five seasons at the helm of the Cowboys.

The Saints have not done so yet, but they have been linked to McCarthy strongly enough that Mickey Loomis was asked earlier today if they’d be targeting McCarthy. McCarthy was New Orleans’ offensive coordinator from 2000-2004 before joining the 49ers, so he has worked with Loomis before and has Saints roots. Most sourced accounts of the Saints opening have pushed the idea that the Saints will hire someone familiar to the organization, so the McCarthy smoke has some solid foundational roots already.

It’s not an official firing, but the Cowboys’ decision not to re-up with McCarthy makes it clear they were only willing to retain him on their terms after a disappointing 2024. The split reportedly came down to a disagreement over the length of contract McCarthy should receive as the two sides attempted to hammer out a new deal, with his current one set to expire at the end of Tuesday. His dismissal comes moments after ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the possibility of the two sides moving on, but now it’s been made official. In his five seasons with the Cowboys, McCarthy led them to a 49-35 record while. He made the playoffs in three of his seasons and won 12 games in each year he made the postseason. Already believed to have a hot market, requests to interview McCarthy come quickly. The Bears are expected to still be interested in him after Dallas denied their request for an interview last week, and there have been rumors that the Saints would also be interested in speaking with the veteran head coach. If he wants to coach in 2025, it seems as if McCarthy will have no problem finding a job as he now becomes one of the top candidates on the market. While McCarthy is under contract through January 14th, the team has said he is free to speak with other teams immediately.

This news comes days after NFL Networks’ Tom Pelissero reported on Friday that McCarthy and the Cowboys were “expected to open talks” on a new contract. McCarthy has already drawn interest from several teams in search of a new head coach, but the Cowboys have declined any requests to speak with the veteran head coach, whose contract expires on January 14th. If McCarthy and the Cowboys don’t have a new deal in place by then, he will be free to speak with any team. The Saints and Bears have both expressed interest in speaking to McCarthy, who has gone 49-35 in his five years with the Cowboys with three playoff appearances. We’ll see if anything changes between now and the next 24 hours, but Schefter reports “it’s now looking like McCarthy will indeed become a coaching free agent.”

Things felt as if they were trending in this direction after Cowboys owner Jerry Jones praised McCarthy’s efforts late in the year despite the lost season. The fact McCarthy wasn’t dismissed by Jones immediately after the season ended was also a good sign for the veteran head coach. McCarthy’s contract with the team is set to officially expire on January 14th, giving the Cowboys little time to get a deal done before McCarthy is free to speak with other teams. McCarthy has led the Cowboys to a 49-35 record during his first five seasons, but had three-straight 12-win seasons from 2021-2023. The team has work to do on the defensive side of the, but with Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb under long-term deals, the offensive weapons are there to make the Cowboys a contender again in 2025.