Although the Dallas Cowboys have finished with a 12-5 record in each of the previous three seasons, head coach Mike McCarthy is under fire. From my perspective, there are three ways to approach this:
Dallas has won more games in the regular season over the past three years than any other club in the NFL, excluding the Kansas City Chiefs. However, the Cowboys have a dismal 1-3 record in the postseason during that period, which has put Mike McCarthy under pressure.
The reason Mike McCarthy is under fire is that Jerry Jones, the general manager and owner of the Dallas Cowboys, runs his business a little differently than other club owners.
Since Bill Belichick is holding out for a chance to take over as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Mike McCarthy is under pressure.
For now, let’s concentrate on that final point.
For better or worse, Mike McCarthy is not Bill Belichick, despite his impressive record as an NFL head coach (his 167 career victories rank 17th in the league’s history). Because of his almost unmatched success, Belichick had been accustomed to having total control over football operations throughout his time as the New England Patriots’ head coach. After Belichick’s tenure in New England eventually ended, the league anticipated that he would look for a similar level of control in his next coaching position. This idea could have frightened off a lot of teams. For that very reason, the Atlanta Falcons, for example, hesitated to officially hire Belichick.
Eric Mangini, a former protégé of Bill Belichick who is now an adversary, claims that Belichick might only relinquish control of football operations in exchange for the head coaching position with the Dallas Cowboys.
During an appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Mangini pondered, “The difficult part about that is which GM is going to have the strength to stand up to Bill, and to stand up to him consistently.” “To declare that this player, rather than the one you admire, is better for your vision. Will Bill be able to stand back and acknowledge that? Given that the general manager is the owner—someone you can’t argue with—Dallas would be the greatest fit for Bill at this point. He was able to argue with Bill Parcells, so perhaps he can do the same with Bill Belichick.
It is by no means a given that Bill Belichick will be the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, or any other team, in 2025. The 72-year-old head coach, who has won six Super Bowls, is regarded as the best coach in NFL history even though he is only 27 victories short of surpassing Don Shula’s record. But if Belichick decides to make one last attempt to break Shula’s record, he probably will be accompanied by a large number of his former New England assistants. However, don’t count on Eric Mangini to be among them.
After working under Bill Belichick for three seasons as a defensive assistant with the New York Jets in the late 1990s, Eric Mangini went on to coach for six more seasons in New England under Belichick’s tutelage before taking the position to return to New York and became the league’s youngest head coach. His relationship with his old mentor soured immediately after Mangini left, and matters worsened when he became involved in the Spygate controversy in 2007. ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini outlined the series of incidents that turned the once-close friends into enmity.
Following the NFL’s investigation, the Patriots were hit with a $250,000 fine and forfeited their first-round selection in the 2008 draft. Belichick also had to pay a hefty $500,000 fine. Mangini and Belichick haven’t talked since 2007, but “the Mangenius” is still holding out hope that they will one day put their differences behind them.
