Mike McCarthy’s tenure with the Cowboys is over.

The two sides have decided to move forward, a person familiar with the negotiations said The Dallas Morning News.

After a disappointing 7-10 season that resulted in a referendum on the work of McCarthy and his staff, as well as the approach of Jerry Jones and his son Stephen in building this team, the club now begins the search for its 10th head coach the franchise history.

“I don’t like to talk about myself that way, but I’m a winner,” McCarthy said after the team lost to Washington in the regular-season finale. “I know how to win. I won a championship.” . I won a championship in this stadium.

“I am, and we’ll see where it goes.”

The Cowboys compiled a 49-35 record in McCarthy’s five seasons. Tom Landry and Jason Garrett are the only coaches in franchise history with more wins.

After a rocky start to its first season, one of which included a pandemic and the loss of starting quarterback Dak Prescott to a broken leg in Week 5, Dallas showed late signs of improvement, completing a 6-10 season with three wins in the final four weeks.

Then Dallas took off, posting three consecutive 12-5 seasons under McCarthy and reaching the postseason in three consecutive years for the first time since the franchise’s Super Bowl run in the 1990s. The Cowboys won the NFC East twice during his tenure.

However, McCarthy was unable to lead the team past the divisional round, a barrier that had limited the club for 29 years. He has a playoff record of 1-3 and saw his team lose twice in the playoffs to San Francisco, followed by a crushing loss at AT&T Stadium to Green Bay to end the 2023 season.

The Cowboys’ only postseason win during his tenure was over Tampa Bay in Tom Brady’s final game.

Kellen Moore served as the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator and play caller during McCarthy’s first three seasons. But McCarthy decided to take over those duties two years ago, leading to Moore’s departure.

Prescott didn’t hide his initial disappointment. But he has grown closer to McCarthy and embraced the changes made to the offense. A quarterback who tied for the NFL lead in interceptions two years ago responded by leading the league in touchdown passes last season under McCarthy before that season was cut short by injury.

Moore is a creative play-caller. But McCarthy, with his experience, connected Prescott’s offense in a way that Moore didn’t. The receivers, backs and linemen were asked to see the game through Prescott’s eyes and were given film clips during their position meetings that show what the quarterback sees and why he reacts the way he does to certain defenses.

Prescott has consistently expressed his support for McCarthy and publicly advocated for his return. Several other players did the same.

McCarthy spent six years in the college ranks before breaking into the NFL in 1993 as quality control coach for Marty Schottenheimer’s Kansas City team. He was quarterbacks coach with the Chiefs and Green Bay Packers before leaving in 2000 to become offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints.

Five years later, he accepted a job as the Niners’ offensive coordinator. McCarthy got his break as head coach of the Packers in 2006.

When McCarthy was announced as the ninth coach in Cowboys history, he made the following statement:

“If you think about the expectations, the goal here never changes,” he said. “It’s about winning championships.”

McCarthy was unable to achieve this.

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