Mike McCarthy is back for another season. The Dallas Cowboys are not making a change

Jerry Jones is standing pat.

He said Wednesday he’s not making a coaching change and Mike McCarthy will be back for fifth season as coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

There has been much speculation about McCarthy’s future since the Cowboys’ 48-32 season-ending playoff loss to Green Bay Packers at home, which also ended a 16-game winning streak at AT&T Stadium.

It was a loss that Jones called unconscionable, surprising and the most painful of his tenure as Cowboys owner. It also came in a season in which Jones felt the Cowboys had a golden opportunity to end a 28-year gap and reach the NFC title game if not the Super Bowl for the first time since their last NFL championship in 1995.

McCarthy has a 1-3 mark in the playoffs and the Packers game was especially disappointing because the Cowboys were outplayed and out coaches from the outset, falling behind 27-0 in the first half and being booed by the frustrated home fans, who had all but departed AT&T Stadium by the four quarter.

But time has allowed Jones to remember the successes the Cowboys have had under McCarthy, who has led them to three straight 12-5 seasons, two NFC East titles and three straight trips to the playoffs.

McCarthy is the first coach in Cowboys history to win 12 games in three straight seasons.

Jones released this statement on his decision Wednesday night:

“I believe this team is very close and capable of achieving our ultimate goals and the best step forward for us will be with Mike McCarthy as our head coach. There is great benefit to continuing the team’s progress under Mike’s leadership as our head coach. Specifically, there are many layers of success that have occurred this season as a result of Mike’s approach to leading the team, both with individual players and with our team collectively. Mike has the highest regular season winning percentage of any head coach in Cowboys history and we will dedicate ourselves, in partnership with him, to translating that into reaching our post season goals. Certainly, Mike’s career has demonstrated post season success at a high level, and we have great confidence that can continue.

Further, our loss on Sunday is shared by everyone here, not just Coach McCarthy. Our players. Our coaches. Our front office. Myself. There is accountability for our results. I am accountable for our results. The lens we use to view and evaluate Coach McCarthy is holistic. While we’re all disappointed with the result on Sunday and with our playoff record, I am 100 percent supportive of him as our head coach and ability to reach our goals.

We will start our process of review and decision making regarding everything that impacts our team and roster and, while we’re not going to address specific players and extensions or free agents at this point, it deserves our deepest review and consideration, and it will get it.”

McCarthy, who has one more year left on his contract, is 42-25 in four seasons.

There was no discussion by Jones of a contract extension for McCarthy.

He will head into 2024 with one final chance to get it done with quarterback Dak Prescott who had a career season in 2023 — before the Green Bay loss — with McCarthy as the offensive coordinator and play caller.

Prescott became the first quarterback in Cowboys history to outright lead the NFL in touchdown passes. He had 36 touchdowns to just 9 interceptions and will likely be a top five finisher in league MVP voting.

Prescott was a staunch supporter of McCarthy in the aftermath of the loss to the Packers. He threw two interceptions in the game and said he was as much to blame as his head coach.

“It should be about me as well,” Prescott said when asked to answer questions about McCarthy’s future. “I’ve had the season that I’ve had because of him. This team has had the success that they’ve had because of him. I understand it’s about winning the Super Bowl. That’s the standard of this league and damn sure the standard of this place. I get it, but add me to the list in that case.”

Prescott, who is 2-5 in the playoffs in eight seasons, is certainly on the list.

And just like with McCarthy, Jones and the Cowboys must answer questions about the quarterback going forward.

He is heading into the last year of a four-year, $160 deal he signed in 2021. Prescott has a $59 million cap figure in 2024.

The Cowboys must decide whether to extend Prescott to lower his cap hit so they sign other players, which likely means an extension of at least $55 million annually.

Or they will let him play out the final year of his deal at his current rate to see if he can be the franchise quarterback that leads the team to the Super Bowl.

The latter means they will have little flexibility on the salary cap while giving Prescott even more leverage for a bigger deal if he achieves the team’s longstanding goal.

The Cowboys would likely be OK with the latter if it means a trip to the Super Bowl.

Jones felt keeping McCarthy was the only way to truly find out about the quarterback. Whether this is their last season together remains to be seen.

The bottom line is McCarthy was brought here to win in the postseason.

It is the reason Jones hired him in 2020 as the ninth coach in franchise history, replacing the fired Jason Garrett.

McCarthy had spent 13 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, winning the Super Bowl following the 2010 season before being fired in 2018.

His first season was marred by an injury to Prescott, who missed the final 11 games with a fracture ankle as the Cowboys went 6-10.

Winning 12 games in each of the last three seasons is proof that McCarthy can build a winner during the regular season with Prescott.

Going one and done in the postseason won’t be enough in 2024.

Possibly not for either one.