The Dallas Cowboys are still licking their wounds from losing to the Detroit Lions at home on Sunday, October 13, with a 47-9 final tally. With the Cowboys being 3-3 heading into Week 8, NFL analysts and experts, of course, are creating buzz about whether head coach Mike McCarthy’s days with the team are numbered. McCarthy’s contract is uncertain, so the Cowboys could decide to go a different direction and not re-sign him.
At this point, Cory Woodroof of USA Today’s For the Win says it’s “inevitable” that one Super Bowl-winning coach will be packing his bags for Dallas. He also writes that this guy could quickly help the team bring home “a Lombardi.”
Jerry Jones Could ‘Sleep Easier at Night’ With New Dallas Cowboys Coach
New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick is often a favorite in conversations about who the Cowboys could bring on to replace McCarthy. Now, Woodroof says it “feels inevitable” that Belichick will head up the team next season.
“It’s not necessarily that Belichick will be the best candidate, but he will be the one that helps Jones sleep easier at night,” Woodroof noted in the October 22 piece. “Don’t underestimate an owner who is clearly tired of being the butt of the joke going out and getting the 21st century’s NFL model of consistency to save his franchise from tepid results.”
Heading into Week 8, the Cowboys are 29th in DVOA for their defense and 26th in offense, which is not great. Add to that the latest horrific loss against the Lions on home turf, and you have some very angry Cowboys fans.
Woodroff goes on to say that a union between Belichick and the Cowboys “just makes too much sense for both sides. Jones would get the coach he’s dreamed of, the one who has already followed in the footsteps of Tom Landry and Jimmy Johnson.”
“Belichick would get a ready-made roster that he could bend to his will for those coveted all-time victories with full support from ownership the second he walks in the door,” Woodroff added. “Maybe it winds up with a Cowboys Super Bowl. Maybe it winds up a Texas-sized disaster. Either way, the big, neon arrows are pointing its direction.”
Woodroff goes on to assert that Belichick could even make a “quick turnaround” in Dallas and bring home “a Lombardi.”
Another Favorite to Replace Mike McCarthy
Not everyone thinks Belichick is Dallas’ ticket to the Big Game. In an October 21 piece for the Cowboys Wire, writer K.D. Drummond picks a different No. 1: Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik.
“Slowik is immensely intriguing for several reasons,” Drummond noted. “One, the offense he was able to coordinate for rookie CJ Stroud was amazing, and he’s continued to add to it in Year 2. Slowik is from the Shanahan coaching tree that has had ridiculous success at the NFL level and maybe most importantly, he used to coach defense. That combination just feels like he’d make a tremendous hire.”
Sayre Bedinger of Sport DFW also names Slowik as a favorite in an October 17 feature about possible new head coaches for the Cowboys.
“The Texans have the #1 red zone offense in the NFL this season and given the player development we’ve seen in Houston, you can’t help but want some of that in Dallas,” Slowik noted.
