https://player.anyclip.com/anyclip-widget/lre-widget/prod/v1/src/lre.js
It’s at this point of the season where fans and media have to start thinking outside the box. The season is nowhere near being over, yet it already is. The Dallas Cowboys are now 3-7, losers of five in a row, winless at home and having a worse point differential than most of the teams that somehow have a worse record. The club currently sits with the ninth overall pick in the 2025 draft’s first round and are just one day into a three-game-in-10-day span that has a chance to guarantee a losing record before the calendar turns to December.
And with that is the stark realization that the watch this website has been on since January is officially in Go Time Mode. Mike McCarthy will be replaced and likely by someone who has been talked about on these pages. Several outlets have finally caught up to what Cowboys Wire has been doing in earnest for a month now. Often imitated, never duplicated.
One thought that has arisen that wasn’t there before. What if Jerry Jones chooses to be new by revisiting the past? One name that is rarely discussed but probably should be is the former heir apparent Kellen Moore. Moore was Jason Garrett 2.0; brought in to the coaching staff as a wunderkind who the Jones family thought a lot of. He carried over as offensive coordinator from Garrett to McCarthy. Being shown the door in 2023 after a playoff failure as McCarthy vowed taking back over play calling would take the offense to a new level.
It did, for a year, before bottoming out in 2024, even before all of the injuries hit. Meanwhile Moore attached himself to Brandon Staley’s sinking ship in L.A. for a year, but has revitalized his reputation thanks to Saquon Barkley’s arrival in Phiadelphia. The Eagles are sitting at 8-2 with an offense that is focusing on running to set up the pass. Could Moore saving the Eagles’ offense from the misery that was their 2023 season be enough to have him back in the head coach conversation? He joins our Honorable Mention list as we rank 20 candidates who could replace McCarthy.
Honorable Mentions:
Dan Pritchard, Cincinnati Bengals OC
Ryan Grubb, Seattle Seahawks OC
Adam Stenovich, Green Bay Packers OC
Ejiro Evero, Carolina Panthers, DC
Jesse Minter, Los Angeles Chargers, DC
Vance Joseph, Denver Broncos, DC
Lincoln Riley, USC, HC
Kellen Moore, Philadelphia Eagles, OC