The 12th-winningest head coach in NFL history will reportedly spend 2025 focusing on the 2026 hiring cycle. It’s a tactic he’s used before.

Former Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy removed his name from consideration and will be focusing on the 2026 head coaching cycle, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. McCarthy should be a strong candidate for a head coaching job next year,

Former Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy does not plan to coach this year. The New Orleans Saints are the only team still looking to hire a head coach, with six other franchises previously filling their vacancies.

McCarthy, whose contract expired with the Cowboys and wasn't signed to an extension, will sit out the 2025 season, according to NFL Media's Tom Pelissero. McCarthy removed his name from consideration for the New Orleans Saints' vacancy. The Saints are the last team to have a head coaching job open this offseason.

Mike McCarthy is out of the running for the New Orleans Saints' head coaching job and no longer plans to coach in 2025, ESPN reported late Tuesday. The Dallas Cowboys didn't renew the contract of McCarthy following a 7-10 season in 2024.

"Former Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy has decided to focus on the 2026 hiring cycle and will not coach in the NFL this season, sources tell me and @RapSheet," Pelissero wrote on X. "McCarthy, who has made the playoffs 12 times in 18 seasons, is expected to be a strong candidate a year from now."

Between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys, Mike McCarthy has been coaching in the NFC for 18 years, and he's accrued a record of 174-112-2 in that time. Despite three consecutive 12-5 seasons in the middle of his tenure with the Cowboys, a 7-10 campaign in 2024 was all Jerry Jones needed to see before deciding to go in a different direction.

Mike McCarthy has decided against coaching in 2025, removing himself as a candidate to fill the NFL’s last remaining head coaching vacancy with the New Orleans Saints.

Mike McCarthy’s head coaching future in the NFL just took a major hit, and according to one analyst, it may be over for good. With the New Orleans Saints being the last team yet to fill their head coaching vacancy,

Fox Sports radio host Jason Smith believes that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones ruined Mike McCarthy’s 2025 head coaching opportunities. While discussing the Cowboys on the “The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon,

If the Cowboys played things differently, they could have had their all-star coaching staff. | From @ReidDHanson