Former player disagrees with Cowboys’ Dak Prescott, points to other coaches ‘more impressive’

Jerry Jones said last week that looking into a crystal ball and seeing Mike McCarthy back on the Cowboys’ sideline in 2025 is “not crazy at all.” The McCarthy bus picked up another passenger on Tuesday.

“I believe in him wholeheartedly,” Dak Prescott told Jori Epstein from Yahoo Sports in an exclusive interview. “I don’t want to necessarily get into the nuts and the screws of it all, obviously, but I think he definitely deserves a chance — another contract and a chance to coach this team amongst more influence. ‘On his terms’ may be a good way to say it … But I wholeheartedly believe in him.”

Regardless of how Jones and Prescott feel about McCarthy, the simple-but-significant problem with the highly respected coach returning in 2025 isn’t the Cowboys’ record (5-7). As they prepare to host Cincinnati (4-8) on Monday Night Football (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN/ABC), the problem is that McCarthy has only five more guaranteed games on his contract, as Epstein noted.

At any time, Jones can call a press conference to announce a McCarthy extension. After all, only Andy Reid (240) and Mike Tomlin (190) have won more games among active head coaches than McCarthy (183). McCarthy also won 12 games each season from 2021-23 with the Cowboys and enters Monday night with a 48-35 record (.578) since taking the Dallas reins in 2020.

However, former linebacker Emmanuel Acho said Tuesday he doesn’t think McCarthy has earned another chance primarily because of his 1-3 postseason record with the Cowboys.

“That’s not to say McCarthy is a bad head coach,” Acho said on FS1’s The Facility. “He’s a good head coach. Good does not win Super Bowls anymore. It’s not to say McCarthy is not an underachieving head coach; he is not. He is an achieving head coach. But in the world of overachieving, even achieving looks like underachieving. That’s what Mike McCarthy looks like.”

Acho said that 16 active head coaches have won as many or more playoff games as McCarthy, and 10 have won more. Plus, Acho said McCarthy hasn’t been the best head coach in his division since 2020.

“I think what Brian Daboll did with that New York Giants roster (in 2022), going 9-7 and winning a playoff game is more impressive than any of the 12-win seasons Mike McCarthy’s had with this seven-to-nine All Pro roster.”

McCarthy can erase any and all doubt simply by winning, something he’s done over the last two games. Suddenly, the Cowboys are only 2½ games out of a playoff position with five left. They also have some control over their own destiny, with the ability to gain conference victories over Carolina, Tampa Bay and Philadelphia, and sweep the Commanders with a win in Week 18.

For more information on the Cowboys and Bengals, visit the Dallas and Cincinnati team pages at ProFootballPost.com.