Troy Aikman addresses Cowboys keeping Mike McCarthy as head coach

Legendary Dallas Cowboys quarterback and Hall of Famer Troy Aikman spoke at a Tuesday event about a variety of subjects, including team owner and general manager Jerry Jones keeping Mike McCarthy as head coach despite McCarthy's 1-3 postseason record with the club. 

"If you make a (head coaching) change, then you’re basically making a change for the same reason you made changes back a few years ago when you brought Mike in and you’re bringing in then somebody who you believe is going to get you over the top," Aikman explained, as shared by Jon Machota of The Athletic. "Just like they felt Mike is that guy to do it. But you don’t know the answer to that until, once again, you get back to January."

Aikman added that it makes "the most sense" for both McCarthy and current Dallas starting signal-caller Dak Prescott to return for another season even though Prescott is now 2-5 across seven career playoff starts. ESPN's Todd Archer pointed out on Wednesday that McCarthy and Prescott are both on track to be out of contract after the 2024 campaign. 

It was reported last week that somebody within the Cowboys "expressed interest" in former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick before Belichick "didn’t reciprocate." 

Meanwhile, Aikman insisted on Tuesday that a Dallas team that won the NFC East division title with a 12-5 record had "a really good year" even though the Cowboys lost 48-32 to the Green Bay Packers in a home wild-card playoff game on Jan. 14. 

"...The way that they were playing at the end of the year, they positioned themselves to be the No. 2 seed," Aikman said about the 2023 Cowboys. "I thought it was good."

Aikman's vote of confidence is well and good, but it's widely assumed Jones won't tolerate McCarthy completing another one-and-done playoff trip next January. In fact, anything short of the Cowboys playing in the 2025 NFC Championship Game could cost McCarthy his job.