Coaching Overhaul Won’t Change Dallas Cowboys’ Fortunes Under Mike McCarthy And Dak Prescott

The Dallas Cowboys have made another change to their coaching staff.

Just days after announcing the dismissal of many key veteran assistants — including the likes of offensive line coach Joe Philbin, defensive line coach Leon Lett, running backs coach Skip Peete and defensive assistant George Edwards — the Cowboys are moving on from offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, as reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

The move is the biggest one yet in the shakeup of the team’s coaching staff from the previous season, indicating the franchise wasn’t exactly happy following a second consecutive loss to the San Francisco 49ers early in the playoffs.

Head coach Mike McCarthy — who previously revealed just days prior that Moore was under “evaluation” — released a statement thanking Moore for his tenure with the team. The 34-year-old initially joined Dallas as a quarterbacks coach in 2018 and had served as the offensive coordinator since the 2019 season.

“I want to thank Kellen for his deep commitment, hard work and dedication that were a core part of his time with the Cowboys,” McCarthy’s statement said. “The production of our offense and his mentorship of Dak were at the center of Kellen’s impact, and we are grateful for his tenure and leadership.”

It’s clear that these moves were made with the intention of sending a message to the returning coaches and players — the 2022 season was not good enough.

And despite this major coaching overhaul, there’s one big problem — it’s not going to change the Cowboys’ fortunes.

Dak Prescott is going to return for another season due to a bloated contract that makes him near impossible to move. If the Cowboys were to trade Prescott prior to June 1 of the offseason — teams rarely make trades for quarterbacks following the draft — they would absorb a dead cap hit of $58 million.

The statistics and history don’t lie — Prescott led the league in interceptions and was the biggest reason for the Cowboys’ loss to the 49ers. Secondly, despite starting for seven seasons, he has yet to lead the team to a single conference championship appearance.

As Todd Archer of ESPN points out, this is cause for concern — because no quarterback since the 1995 season has led a team to an NFC Championship Game or Super Bowl for the first time after a seven-year run as a starter with that same team.

“Since the Cowboys’ last Super Bowl appearance in 1995, no quarterback has taken his team to an NFC Championship Game or Super Bowl for the first time after a seven-year run as the starter with that team, according to ESPN Stats & Information,” says Archer. “The last to make his first NFC title-game appearance in his seventh season in that scenario was Phil Simms in 1986, although that does not include the 1982 season that he missed with a knee injury.”

As solid of a quarterback as Prescott is, he’s not a guy that’s going to make the plays necessary in a tight playoff game to lift your team over the top. If he was that quarterback, he would have done it by now.

Instead, the Cowboys will enter the 2023 season with Prescott holding the second-highest cap figure of any player in the league — $49.13 million, only behind the Cleveland Browns’ Deshaun Watson — hoping that he’ll finally play like the elite quarterback that they’re paying him to be.

Despite winning a road playoff game for the first time since the 1992 season and clinching back-to-back playoff berths for the first time since the 2006-07 seasons, Dallas came up short of advancing to a conference championship game for the 27th consecutive season.

McCarthy — who entered this season on the hot seat and with Sean Payton rumors circling the franchise — was able to buy himself another season with his playoff win over a mediocre Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that was lucky just to be in the postseason.

If the Cowboys are to continue as currently constructed, they’ll absolutely have to advance to a place they haven’t been since the 1995 season — the NFC Championship Game. Another 12-win season and quick playoff exit isn’t going to satisfy Jerry Jones.

As far as Payton is concerned, he’s currently interviewing for head coaching jobs as he looks to return to the sidelines. He’s currently connected to jobs such as the Denver Broncos, Arizona Cardinals and Houston Texans.

What’s not being brought up enough is the possibility that Payton could very well sit out another year before returning to the sidelines. If neither of the aforementioned teams woo him enough — whether that be money or influence over the team — the former New Orleans Saints head coach could just sit out.

Until the Cowboys head coaching job becomes open.

If Dallas falters again in 2023, the Cowboys will move on from McCarthy and will start thinking about their options beyond Prescott. That means a total makeover, which could include Payton in the mix along with a new franchise quarterback.

The Cowboys will return largely the same nucleus — minus Moore and a bunch of veteran assistants — for another season. But it’s not likely to change the results of the current team.

The clock is ticking for McCarthy and Prescott.