Troy Aikman expects Mike McCarthy to be the Dallas Cowboys head coach in 2025

ARLINGTON — The future of head coach Mike McCarthy, and subsequently the entire coaching staff, has been the fragile theme of this entire Dallas Cowboys season.

McCarthy’s contract expires after this season. Whether he’ll be back for another has been the question on everyone’s mind around Dallas since owner Jerry Jones decided to bring back McCarthy without an extension.

The only person who actually knows McCarthy’s future is Jones. Some others may have insight, however.

Former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman, now on the broadcast for ESPN’s Monday Night Football, told 105.3 The Fan before the Cowboys game against the Bengals on Monday that he expects McCarthy to return in 2025.

Aikman had his reasons. One of which was the reasons for why the Cowboys enter Monday night with a 5-7 record. Aikman said that there were needs for Dallas that didn’t go addressed this off-season.

Despite that record, and despite a five-game losing streak, Aikman said he didn’t see a team that had quit on its head coach.

“I like the way this team is playing right now, even without their franchise quarterback,” Aikman said, alluding to the season-ending loss of Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. “I sense that it’s a team that really believes in Mike McCarthy. I feel the locker room wants him back. I think he’s a really good football coach and I believe Jerry Jones thinks he’s a really good football coach too. I think [a coaching change is] the last thing that Jerry Jones wants to do.

“As we stand and talk right now … I expect Mike McCarthy to be back in 2025.”

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Prescott also recently voiced his support for McCarthy to return, saying that he wanted to see McCarthy coach on “his own terms” — a concept that McCarthy shrugged off this week when he was asked about.

Aikman had another reason for why he didn’t foresee a coaching change at this time. The Cowboys are 47-32 under McCarthy. When Prescott has been healthy they’ve been 36-20. The Cowboys are 1-3 in the postseason under him.

Despite that lack of playoff success, McCarthy resume is still one of the best among possible candidates, Aikman said. He said that “short of Bill Belichick” there wouldn’t be a better candidate.

Belichick, for what it’s worth, reportedly interviewed at the University of North Carolina recently.

Aikman did give one caveat to his prediction about McCarthy being back, however. He said it could change if things started to go awry, starting with Monday’s home game against the 4-8 Bengals.

How the Cowboys play the rest of the season remains to be seen. The same goes for how it relates to McCarthy’s future. We do know this: it’s been the theme of this season and will remain the theme until there is resolution.