Report details how Cowboys went from Mike McCarthy to Brian Schottenheimer

Many members of the NFL community remain downright baffled regarding why Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones didn't get a new contract done with former head coach Mike McCarthy before the two sides parted ways earlier this month and before Jones essentially promoted Brian Schottenheimer to serve as McCarthy's replacement after Schottenheimer spent the last two seasons as Dallas' offensive coordinator. 

ESPN's Todd Archer touched upon the subject for a piece published Thursday. 

"On Jan. 13, the Cowboys released a statement from Jones saying he and Mike McCarthy, whose contract as head coach had expired after five seasons, agreed to part ways. That concluded days of meetings regarding the fallout from a 7-10 finish," Archer explained. "While no financial figures were discussed, the length of a proposed agreement was a sticking point. McCarthy was seeking a five-year deal, according to multiple sources, while Jones was sticking with three. At an impasse, both sides agreed it was time to move on."

McCarthy guided Dallas to 12-5 records each season from 2021-23 but became a target of critics and even some Cowboys fans because his teams went 1-3 in postseason play before an injury crisis sunk the club's campaign this past fall. The 61-year-old nevertheless is widely seen as a better head-coaching candidate than Schottenheimer, who had never served as a head coach before this month. 

Despite that lack of experience, numerous noteworthy individuals seemingly campaigned for Schottenheimer to earn the Dallas job this winter. 

"Jones spoke to a number of coaches as references for Schottenheimer," Archer added, "Steve Spurrier, his coach at Florida when he was a backup to Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel in the mid-1990s, was one of them. So was (new Las Vegas Raiders head coach) Pete Carroll, Schottenheimer's boss with the Seahawks and someone Jones considered briefly for the head coach job. ...Schottenheimer spent three seasons as the Seahawks' offensive coordinator under Carroll (2018–2020)."

Cowboys starting quarterback Dak Prescott recently acknowledged that "continuity" was "important" to him largely because he "had a lot of success" playing under Schottenheimer and McCarthy. One wonders how Prescott truly feels about Jones not matching McCarthy's contract requests assuming the one-time Super Bowl champion head coach was willing to stay with the Cowboys had he received his desired deal.