Cowboys Coach Rumors: Why Are Belichick and Harbaugh Mentioned as Fired Mike McCarthy Replacements?

The Cowboys just enjoyed their third consecutive 12-win season under Mike McCarthy. Could a coaching change really be in the works in Dallas? Why are Harbaugh and Belichick being mentioned?

FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys are preparing for their third playoff appearance in four seasons with Mike McCarthy as head coach. Dallas also just enjoyed its third straight 12-win season and second NFC East division title under McCarthy's leadership.

Our Mike Fisher has reported that while "never say never'' is always a useful mindset, owner Jerry Jones "has no plans'' to fire McCarthy. And now Jerry has essentially said the same thing, on Tuesday saying, "I don't know how I could be any clearer: Mike is under contract next year so it's not an issue. I'm very pleased with what he's done. He's the big difference this year.

Based on that success, that report and those remarks, it's hard to imagine that a change at head coach could be coming for the Cowboys. Yet, rumors run wild about Jones making a change unless there's a deep playoff run that includes a Super Bowl appearance.

Why? And who? To the second question, "who'' is Jim Harbaugh and (yes, again) Bill Belichick. And here we go ...

In the case of Bleacher Report making an argument for Michigan Wolverines head coach Harbaugh to be that man? They're just making it up.

“Could Dallas be one of those teams [interested in Harbaugh]? It’s difficult to believe otherwise. Harbaugh (just won a) championship, and he wasted little time getting the same opportunity the last time he was in the NFL,” Bleacher Report published. ... Harbaugh is his ideal target.''

"It's difficult to believe otherwise''? What a tortured phrase that is.

"Ideal''? Nope. That's not how any of this works. There is no sourcing here, and we'll question this: Why is Harbaugh a significant upgrade over McCarthy? The current Cowboys head coach is 40-25 in the regular season since arriving in Dallas in 2020 and holds a career record of 165-100-2. McCarthy has had moderate success in the postseason, leading Dallas to a 1-2 record. For his career, McCarthy is 11-10 with one Super Bowl win while with the Packers.

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Harbaugh served as the 49ers head coach for four seasons, posting a 44-19-1 record with a Super Bowl loss in 2012 against his brother, John, and the Ravens.

And the new "thing'' on Belichick? This comes from an actual reporter, Peter King - but unfortunately, King is also just making stuff up here. To wit:

"Jerry Jones, asked about the future of McCarthy. 'We’ll see how each game goes in the playoffs,' Jones said. 

"My first thought was that Jones wants insurance in case Dallas has an embarrassing end to its season. Second thought: Jones wants a shot at Bill Belichick."

Let's slow down. That is actually a parsing of what Jones said on Sunday and then make more clear on Tuesday. He also said after the win at Washington, "I just think his record speaks for itself. I think of what he's done and that we've put ourselves in this position over these last three years, I think that does speak for itself.''

If we parse Jerry's quote on McCarthy down to 'We'll see how each game goes in the playoffs,' we're not being honest about what he actually said in full in the last 3 days.

And we're not even close to what he actually thinks.

And I wonder if we're doing all of this on purpose.

— fishsports ✭ (@fishsports) January 9, 2024

Jerry is NOT telling us he's firing McCarthy in order to hire Belichick or Harbaugh or anybody else. While keeping the "never say never'' door open - understandably - he's telling us quite the opposite.

The real question is, "Why aren't we listening?''