Mike McCarthy hot seat: NFL insider sheds light on future of Cowboys head coach

Week 18 has arrived, which means the Dallas Cowboys will play their final regular season game of the year against the Washington Commanders.

Will it be the last time fans see Mike McCarthy as the team’s head coach? NFL insider Adam Schefter revealed how hot McCarthy’s seat is as the Cowboys head into the offseason after Sunday.

“It’s always a tough time of year for coaches, for their families. I think Mike McCarthy, who’s in the last year (of his contract), think a lot of people in Dallas believe that he has a real chance to be back,” Schefter said on SportsCenter on Sunday morning. “That he’s going to be talking with the Cowboys. I do not think this is a certainty in any way, shape or form.

“I think there are people in that organization that would like it back. I think others have some questions, and they’re going to take some time to sit down after today’s game to figure out whether or not they could work it out and make it happen.”

The Cowboys began the season with a hopeful 3-2 record in 2024. They would go on to lose the next two games before losing star QB Dak Prescott for the season with injury against the Atlanta Falcons, a game that extended their losing streak to three.

With Cooper Rush filling in under center, Dallas was eliminated from the playoffs by the time they started playing winning football. They won four of their last six games before Week 18, but still have a 7-9 record with the possibility of losing 10 games still on the table vs. the 11-5 Commanders.

In the lead-up to Week 18, McCarthy touched on the emotions that are tied with Sunday potentially being his final game coaching the Cowboys — and final with a home game inside AT&T Stadium.

“I’ll be honest with you, I go to the stadium much earlier this time in my career than I used to,” McCarthy said, per Jon Machota of The Athletic. “I won a Super Bowl in that home locker room at AT&T Stadium. “So I have a very strong emotional attachment that it hits me every time I walk in there and every time I walk out. So, yeah, I’m definitely aware of it. I’m not thinking about it right now, but, yeah, I’m definitely in tune with that.”

Kickoff between the Cowboys and Commanders is set for 1 p.m. ET live on FOX.