Troy Aikman is not too impressed with how the Dallas Cowboys are handling their coaching situation.
Aikman appeared on ESPN’s “Monday Night Countdown” prior to his call of the NFC Wild Card game and was asked about the Cowboys’ decision to part ways with Mike McCarthy after contract talks broke down. The former Dallas quarterback had a rather low opinion of decision, and was critical of what the move says about the organization’s direction.
“I thought Mike McCarthy would be the head coach, so this is a bit of a surprise for me today that he’s not going to be,” Aikman said. “It suggests that there’s not a real plan, the fact that they haven’t had the opportunity to maybe interview a Ben Johnson, some of these others, Aaron Glenn.
“What (Adam) Schefter said as far as Kellen Moore being a candidate, that seems logical to me. A guy who has familiarity with the building, with the Cowboys, with Jerry Jones — they know each other very well,” Aikman continued. “Beyond that, it’s hard to imagine. As far as a coveted job, I don’t know that that’s accurate. I do think the Cowboys are obviously a high-profile team. Whoever is head coach of that team is certainly going to draw a lot of attention. I think most football people that take over as a head coach, they want to do it on their terms. That’s hard to do. If you take a Dan Campbell, for instance — is Dan Campbell Dan Campbell if he’s with the Dallas Cowboys? It’s hard to imagine that he is. It’s hard to imagine that a lot of these coaches might be.
“I love the Dallas Cowboys. I played there for 12 years. I wish them well. But to say that it’s a coveted job, I’m not sure I necessarily would agree with that.”
Troy Aikman on the Dallas Cowboys: "I thought Mike McCarthy would be the head coach, so this is a bit of a surprise for me today… It suggests that there's not a real plan… To say that it's a coveted job, I'm not sure I would necessarily agree with that." 🏈🔥🎙️#NFL pic.twitter.com/M6cmb1dOaO
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 13, 2025
Aikman makes a lot of solid points. Jerry Jones’ presence as owner and GM precludes any coach from having much of a say in who will be running the front office, which will be a negative for certain candidates. Plus, as Aikman alluded to, the decision to try and sort out an agreement with McCarthy only for it to fall through means the Cowboys missed the window to interview certain coaching candidates. Johnson and Glenn, for instance, will be off-limits to Dallas until the Detroit Lions’ season ends, which could be an entire month away if they go to the Super Bowl.
There may be logic behind the idea of Jones going an unorthodox route with this search. That might not make Cowboys fans happy, but Jones has always done things his own way, for better or worse.
