The Cowboys decided to keep Mike McCarthy as the team's head coach despite becoming the first No. 2 seed in NFL history to be upset by a No. 7 seed in the postseason.
That said, it appears that McCarthy's seat is scorching hot heading into the 2024 NFL season after three consecutive early playoff exits.
Case in point? Dallas owner Jerry Jones didn't dismiss teaming up with legendary coach Bill Belichick in the future when asked about it at the Senior Bowl.
MORE: Jerry Jones says he's 'floored' after Cowboys' shocking postseason loss to Packers
At first, Jones did his best to deflect questions about Belichick to show support for McCarthy.
“I don’t want to get into, for reasons of talking about anybody that I may have talked to that’s been bantered around about coaching,” Jones told Jori Epstein of Yahoo Sports. “But I didn’t talk to anybody. I haven’t talked to anybody that is a head-coaching candidate other than my own.”
Per usual, Jones' candor eventually shone through. He indicated that he believed a partnership between himself and Belichick could work.
“I know him personally and I like him,” Jones said of Belichick. “There’s no doubt in my mind we could work together. None. None.”
That Jones spoke well of Belichick isn't surprising, as the two have long shared a friendship and mutual admiration.
Will Jerry Jones hire Bill Belichick to coach the Cowboys?
Even so, Jones' timing in supporting Belichick is notable considering McCarthy's postseason struggles. McCarthy has gone just 1-3 in postseason contests during his four years in Dallas, and Jones nearly fired him after the Cowboys' season-ending 48-32 loss to the Packers before being talked out of it, per WalterFootball.com's Charlie Campbell.
MORE: Jerry Jones explained why the Cowboys didn't fire Mike McCarthy
Even though McCarthy survived, it appears he is on thin ice. Jones' endorsement of Belichick — who appears unlikely to land a coaching job in 2024 after the Falcons hired Raheem Morris — will only fuel the fire warming McCarthy's seat, especially considering that Jones views Belichick as "maybe the greatest pro football coach of all time."
“We all know that he’s certainly excellent, maybe at the top of his profession,” Jones said of Belichick. “To say that any one person automatically assures you a Super Bowl is ridiculous. That’s too high [an] expectation for him. But is he maybe the greatest pro football coach of all time? Could very well be.
“He is a friend and I like him and I want to make real clear: I wouldn’t have any problem working with him.”
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What's also really clear is that McCarthy will need to win in the postseason next year or risk being replaced by the eight-time Super Bowl champion Belichick.
