The 2024 NFL season was one to forget for the Dallas Cowboys.
Dallas finished the season with a lackluster 7-10 record, which put them in third place in the NFC East and outside of playoff contention.
Head coach Mike McCarthy went into the season with one year left on his contract, and while the sides had talks about keeping the Super Bowl XLV winning coach, McCarthy’s contract expired and Dallas announced they would be moving on from the 61-year-old.
While there’s plenty to debate about whether it was the right decision to move on from the coach who went 49-35 in his six seasons with the team, one Cowboys star found the news ‘devastating.’
Micah on Mike McCarthy’s exit and what’s next for Cowboys:
“It is devastating… It’s gonna be a complete reset.”
(via The Edge with Micah Parsons) pic.twitter.com/8qxpw2l6Gq
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 14, 2025
“I’m obviously very sad because of the relationships we had with Coach McCarthy and everything he’s done for our program,” Cowboys linebacker and four-time Pro Bowler Micah Parsons said this week on his podcast, The Edge.
The Cowboys drafted Parsons in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. McCarthy is the only coach the 2021 Defensive Rookie of the Year has had in the NFL.
“Three straight 12-5 seasons, playoff appearances and obviously an unfortunate year due to injuries. … It is devastating. Coach Mike is a great father, great coach. He’s always been good to us as a unit, coaches, players. Losing a great coach like Mike hurts,” Parsons added.
As Parsons noted, injuries played a big role in the Cowboys’ disappointing season. Quarterback Dak Prescott missed the last nine games of the season with hamstring injury and Parsons missed four games in the middle of the season with a high ankle sprain.
If finding a new head coach is the top priority for Dallas this offseason, extending Parsons’ contract has to be second from the top. The 25-year-old is entering the final year of his rookie deal.
