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FRISCO, Texas — Jason Garrett and the Dallas Cowboys were wed for a decade, and that divorce was as unceremonious as it gets, in large part due to the wooing of Mike McCarthy at the time, the latter signing on to become the team’s eighth coach in franchise history in 2020.
Five years later, the Cowboys are searching for the ninth.
The timing could be better, and you’ll come to discover why in a few moments, but it is now of the essence.
A regime change can range from a few changes to an outright overhauling of the staff, from assistants and position coaches to roster moves and plenty more, and the upcoming Reese’s Senior Bowl serves as the first true marker in a calendar of deadlines that await the Cowboys and their currently head coach-less team.
Without further adieu, here are 20 names the Cowboys will likely be interested in — to varying degrees — as they get to the task of trying to make sure their next move is their best move.
[Note: This list is unranked, and framed toward the front office’s likely thought processes]
In-house Talent
- Mike Zimmer, defensive coordinator
- Al Harris, assistant head coach and defensive backs coach
- Brian Schottenheimer, offensive coordinator
- John “Bones” Fassel, special teams coordinator
OK, I cheated, because these four aren’t counted toward my tally of 20.
Thanks for understanding.
First and foremost, expect an internal conversation with these four being the frontrunners in those talks. Zimmer, by far, has the inside track of this four-pack due to his NFL resume and the fact he was recently a head coach, and one with a degree of success by way of his stint with the Minnesota Vikings. His reunion with the Cowboys could prove fortuitous in the wake of McCarthy’s departure, but that’s if he chooses to stick around.
By that I mean he’s given as much indication that he’d like to stay in Dallas as much that he might’ve coached his final game in the NFL — making it difficult to get a read on his intentions.
And would he stay if McCarthy landed with, say, the Bears, in a situation that would place both Mikes back in the NFC North with a chance to battle their former employers twice a year (having both been previously dismissed by said employers)?
To pretend that wouldn’t be tantalizing would be a mistake.
Harris has clear aspirations of being an NFL head coach and, as recently as last offseason, pulled no punches in stating so. It might’ve hurt him in the capacity of possibly becoming the defensive coordinator in Dallas once Dan Quinn departed, but just know he hasn’t changed his mind about being a head coach one day. But with no experience in the role and with the Cowboys’ front office preferring exactly that, Harris might have to prove himself as a coordinator first.
Maybe that means, if Zimmer doesn’t return, that Harris convinces the incoming head coach of his abilities (as if they’re not already well-known around the league) and willingness to take on that role as a stepping stone.
And what of Schottenheimer?
This feels far less likely of a scenario, though not impossible because of Schottenheimer’s bloodline and his extensive experience as a position coach and coordinator — despite not calling plays under McCarthy. Fassel has head coaching experience, though as an interim in his time with the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams, and he is arguably (though I’m not sure who’d argue against it) the best special teams coordinator in the NFL, and he might want a shot at the throne.
Plenty to consider between these four, but this is just the tip of the iceberg.
And the iceberg is massive.
The NFLers
- Sean McVay, head coach – Rams
- Pete Carroll, free agent
- Ron Rivera, free agent
- Jon Gruden, free agent
Frontrunner: Pete Carroll
It’s a long shot, but it’s a shot that could be taken, but going after McVay would involve some serious wheeling and dealing by the Cowboys.
They’d have to strike a deal to trade for McVay, and it will involve a premium draft pick along with a compensation package that would make McVay turn his eyes away from the next stage of his career (TV money) to relocate his family to North Texas.
A big ask. A huge ask, even. A gargantuan ask, if we’re being honest.
But they could, if only to see what that total package would need to look like.
The other three on this list are more realistic, and won’t require any assets being traded away for procurement, with Carroll being the most viable. Along with the fact he’s as proven as they come and with a Super Bowl ring on his finger, two tidbits that were also true of Mike McCarthy and Bill Parcells, it seems a foregone conclusion Carroll is exactly the kind of candidate the Joneses would pursue heavily.
Carroll was also the maestro for a team that propelled Dan Quinn to fame in the coaching ranks, and he coached up a list of players into potential busts in Canton. If anyone can handle all that comes with being the head coach of the Cowboys, it’s Carroll, as his history strongly implies.
There is a solid relationship between Gruden and the Jones family, so you can’t rule out his return to the NFL possibly being in Dallas, though it’s fair to wonder if the Cowboys, having so many other options, would willfully be the first to jump in front of the PR baggage that would come tethered to Gruden.
He is a culture-changer, though, and very much cut from “the old ball coach” fabric.
Charred denim, not velvet.
Rivera would be a much safer pick from that standpoint, the former Commanders’ head coach back in the hiring cycle this offseason and already beginning his round of interviews with teams, but while it’s true he led the Carolina Panthers to the Super Bowl in yesteryear, he also ended his four-year stay in Washington with no winning seasons whatsoever, and that won’t be ignored in any discussion with Cowboys’ brass.
Now, on to the talented but less-experienced bunch.
The Coordination Station
- Kellen Moore, OC – Eagles
- Ben Johnson, OC – Lions
- Todd Monken, OC – Ravens
- Liam Coen, OC – Buccaneers
- Joe Brady, OC – Bills
- Kliff Kingsbury, OC – Commanders
- Bobby Slowik, OC – Texans
- Aaron Glenn, DC – Lions
- Brian Flores, DC – Vikings
Frontrunner: Kellen Moore
Due to the delay in parting ways with McCarthy, the Cowboys will have to wait until after the conclusion of the Lions’ season in order to speak with Johnson or Glenn, so let’s clarify that here and now, because they are prohibited from requesting an interview now that the window has closed on their availability.
Johnson is the hottest name in this year’s coaching cycle, with Glenn right behind him, thanks to how the two have helped Dan Campbell flip the Lions from a laughingstock of the league into the best team in the NFL and the lead horse and current standard-bearer in the NFC.
But Johnson’s salary demands are reportedly substantial, and that could very well price him out of Dallas when other teams (e.g., the Chicago Bears) would likely slide him a blank check to slide over to a division rival. As for Glenn who, like Campbell (and Moore plus some other names on this list) is a former Cowboys’ player (2005, under Bill Parcells), and the Joneses do have affinity for relationships.
And the latter is one big reason Moore will get a call.
He was groomed by the Cowboys for years with the hopes of one day being the team’s head coach, quickly ascending from the role of backup quarterback to quarterbacks’ coach to offensive coordinator under Jason Garrett, and his relationship with Dak Prescott is bulletproof, only helping his case that much more.
Of course, there are other very worthy candidates in this group that one could argue deserve a shot more than Moore does but, again, it would be unwise to negate the mental workings of the front office in Dallas. They are loath to watch something/someone they’ve invested so much in pay off big for someone else, and it’s undoubtedly eating at them to see Moore thriving … in Philadelphia, of all places.
For them, a homecoming of Moore as head coach would be storybook and, from a draft standpoint, his pipeline to Boise State might grease the wheels for a certain running back as well.
Hate it or love it, but Moore will be toward the front of this entire class of candidates.
With the Cowboys’ offense needing revitalization, it should serve as no surprise that this group is OC-heavy, and stacked with some of the youngest, but must sought-after minds in football.
The College Guys
- Bill Belichick, HC – Tarheels
- Deion Sanders, HC – Colorado
- Marcus Freeman, HC – Fighting Irish
- Jason Witten, HC – Liberty Christian (HS)
- Steve Sarkisian, HC – Longhorns
- Lincoln Riley, HC – Trojans
- Lane Kiffin, OC – Rebels (Ole Miss)
Frontrunner: None (see below)
It admittedly feels odd placing Belichick in this group, but that’s where we stand in 2025.
Having departed the NFL in 2024 to accept an offer to be the head coach in Chapel Hill, there is plenty of talk outside of the building about his willingness or lack thereof to pull a Josh McDaniels and back out if the Cowboys paid $10 million to buy him out of that contract; but it seems nonsensical to do so when they’d also have to pay him a substantial salary and it’s unknown just how much control Belichick would expect to have in his next NFL gig.
Plus, quiet as it’s kept, his post-Tom Brady record isn’t exactly attractive.
That brings us to yet another former Cowboy, and that’s “Neon” Deion Sanders a.k.a. Prime Time, a.k.a. Mr. “Show Me the Money” a.k.a. one of the best players to ever touch a football — turned head coach of Jackson State and now a Colorado program, having turned both around in short order. That is, however, nothing compared to what he’d be up against in trying to redirect the Titanic, because the Cowboys are not exactly a tugboat.
With no need of Shadeur Sanders, would Papa Bear even entertain such a move when he’s so well set up in Boulder, having recently released a video to that very effect?
Still, a wide net being cast has to include a phone call with him, even if it ultimately leads nowhere, and it likely will, but there’s that relationship thing again.
Wait, did you think the relationship thing was over on this list? Aw, bless your heart.
A state champion at the high school level, Witten could absolutely get a look from a team that is near and dear to his heart. The glaring problem here is Witten’s experience being less than every other person on this list, and by a lot. He began coaching in 2021 and, again, at the high school level, with no experience at the collegiate or NFL level. More practically speaking, bringing the living legend in to be a position coach for the new regime makes perfect sense for all involved; and it could free up tight ends coach Lunda Wells to stretch his legs, like in, say, trying his hand at coaching the offensive line … or the running backs.
As far as Freeman goes, it’s self-explanatory: he took one of the most storied programs in the country and turned them around to the point they’re now in the national championship game — thanks to a blend of outstanding schematics, recruiting and a style of physicality that has, more often than not, been absent in Dallas.
Sarkisian rebuilt the Longhorns in similar fashion, and he’s already in Texas. He’s been both a position coach (Raiders) and an offensive coordinator (Falcons) at the NFL level, also no stranger to bright lights by way of his time under Pete Carroll at USC and his current seat in Austin.
His final stretch of plays won’t do him any favors but, objectively speaking, the Cowboys would care more about the 13-3 record in his first year in the SEC, losing only to Georgia (twice) and Ohio State.
Kiffin? Riley? You’ve seen those names connected to the Cowboys in years past, and this time around will be no different, especially with Kiffin having connections to the organization and Riley once being vocal about his interest in landing the job.
But one of the main reasons Riley didn’t get a look in the post-Garrett cycle was due to lack of NFL experience, and he still has none.
So, much like everyone on this list, the Joneses would first have to want to break rank on avoiding collegiate coaches who lack an NFL resume.
The only two times Jerry Jones has done that was with Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer — two guys he had a … say it with me … pre-existing relationship with.
Welcome to this year’s edition of Hunger Games, folks.
May the odds be ever in the candidates’ favor.
