Mike McCarthy makes final decision on New Orleans Saints head coaching job
That lack of postseason success seemingly did McCarthy in, with the Cowboys deciding not to pursue a contract extension with the coach who led them to a 49-35 record.
When the Cowboys parted ways with McCarthy, he seemed like a sure bet to land one of the other six NFL head coaching vacancies. Yet, now that the New Orleans Saints are the only team that has yet to fill their coaching vacancy, the job looked like it was his to lose.
However, the latest update on McCarthy’s plans for the 2025 season paints a different picture.
From the outside looking in, Mike McCarthy seemed like a top candidate to coach the New Orleans Saints next season. However, Tuesday night’s report that his initial negotiations with the Saints “have not gone well” may have ended all hopes of him being a head coach in 2025.
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, McCarthy will not be coaching in the NFL this season. Instead, he plans to refocus his efforts on landing an NFL head coaching job for the 2026 season, when several other openings are expected.
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This means the Saints will have to find another qualified candidate. Yet, being that they’re already in the second round of coaching interviews, it shouldn’t take them much longer to make a final decision.
As for McCarthy, he’s taking a page from Bill Belichick’s playbook by sitting out a year before trying to land a head coaching job again. Of course, Belichick’s journey led him to college football instead, where he’s set to coach the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Yet, McCarthy has been here before too, back when the Green Bay Packers moved on from him, which led to the Pennsylvania native taking a year off before becoming the Cowboys’ head coach the following season. We’ll see where he ends up in 2026, but he should remain one of the top candidates in next year’s hiring cycle too.
