Head coach candidate rankings if Cowboys replace Mike McCarthy
While nothing has been leaked, the longer the silence remains, the stronger the possibility becomes. Owner Jerry Jones could at any time weigh in on whether or not head coach Mike McCarthy will be returning for a fifth season to lead the Dallas Cowboys.
McCarthy and company are at a bit of a crossroads. For the first time in three decades, the Cowboys are consistently winning, victorious in 12 games for three consecutive years. Yet the playoff success McCarthy was hired to bring about has escaped them.
The blowout defeat, at home in the wild-card round, does not scream team-on-the-rise. So for that reason, Jones may be ready to move on and hitch his wagon to a new head coach. If there is a move to be made, there are a lot of quality potential candidates to choose from.
When it was apparent that Jason Garrett was not going to survive his 2019 lame-duck season, we began running replacement coach power rankings. Of those names, McCarthy was our top choice among coaches who would not require losing draft picks.
At the time, because there were months of buildup, we ranked a whopping 46 candidates. This year there won’t be that extensive of a group, just a third of those names at 16.
Of course, what can’t be captured here is how impressive any of these guys are in the interview room. There’s only so much that can be gleaned from the outside looking in. Also to be considered, there are a handful of the best head coaches in the game weren’t actually offensive or defensive coordinators before taking over the big chair. It’s impossible for us on the outside to have much knowledge on these types of candidates.
There’s no way to know whether or not these names will turn into stud head coaches, or if they ever get the opportunity. On the list from December 2019, Dan Campbell was No. 40, three spots behind Matt Eberflus and 20 spots behind Brian Daboll. One just never truly knows.
Former Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer
Zimmer’s act got stale in Minnesota, but after two years out the league perhaps bringing him home to Dallas would be a consideration.
Buccaneers OC Byron Leftwich
Leftwich has been on the radar as a head coach candidate for several seasons, though the Bucs offense across the last two years hasn’t been wholly impressive.
Arlington Renegades HC Bob Stoops
Stoops was a national championship coach at Oklahoma and two-time coach of the year. He returned to coaching recently and won the XFL championship last year. Worth a conversation as he’s down the street.
Cowboys Special Teams Coordinator John Fassel
John Fassel is a really special, special-teams coach. Seeing the long-term success that John Harbaugh has had in Baltimore coming from the same role, it’d behoove Dallas not to block their blessings and see if there’s something here.
Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady
One of the league’s young-gun offensive coordinators, Brady’s been coaching for just 10 years, but seems to have a ton of innovation ready to roll out.
Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn
Listen, despite his inability to coordinate a defense that can stop a Kyle Shanahan-inspired offense, Quinn is a tremendous leader. He’s been at the forefront of the search for several teams three years running.
Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris
It’s now been over a decade since Morris’ up-and-down stint as Bucaneers head coach. He’s absolutely earned the chance to be in the lead chair again after his success as a defensive coordinator since.
University of Georgia head coach Kirby Smart
The man is 42-2 in his last three seasons. I think it would be a smart idea to at least reach out and see what his plan would be to run an NFL franchise. Especially after finally getting Jimmy Johnson into the Ring of Honor. See if that insider info into the recruiting ranks could take the scouting department to an unreal level.
Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy
Bienemy is long overdue to get his shot as a head coach. His one-year stint as a playcaller in Washington actually improved that side of the ball slightly on a rapidly-sinking ship.
USC head coach Lincoln Riley
Riley moved on from Oklahoma and has been leading USC for the last two years, but he’s always been pegged as a young, innovative mind destined to coach in the NFL.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin
It appears Tomlin is staying on for another year despite the Steelers GM refusing to give him a competent quarterback. He’ll still likely finish above .500 for the 18th time in a row.
Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith
Motion at the snap.
https://twitter.com/SethWalder/status/1747302360508960887
Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken
The difference in the Ravens’ passing offense is night and day under the first-year offensive coordinator.
Former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick
I mean, it’s Bill Belichick. It’s well known what he can do with a top-passing offense. As long as he lets Will McClay cook, there’s numerous reasons to consider this.
Likely Jerry Jones’ top choice.
University of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh
Harbaugh has now won a national championship at Michigan and he’s already proven he’s capable of getting an NFL team to the Super Bowl. This makes too much sense all things considering.
Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson
What Ben Johnson’s offense and tutelage has been able to do for Jared Goff has been amazing. In the Stafford trade, Goff was expected to be a placeholder until the Lions drafted their guy. Now the clearly limited passer is running one of the league’s best offenses.
Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik
Slowik is immensly intriguing for several reasons. One, the offense he was able to coordinate for rookie CJ Stroud was amazing. Slowik is from the Kyle Shanahan coaching tree that has had ridiculous success at the NFL level and most importantly, for me, is that he used to coach defense. That combination just feels like he’d make a tremendous hire.
