Mike McCarthy, Cowboys staff operating at status quo as decision looms

Three days have come and gone since the Dallas Cowboys' unceremonious exit from the playoffs.

In the aftermath of Dallas' disastrous 48-32 wild-card walloping at the hands of the Green Bay Packers, rumblings regarding head coach Mike McCarthy's status roared.

As of now, McCarthy and his staff are operating at status quo conducting exit interviews with players and coaches, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported Wednesday on NFL Total Access.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is known to take a step back back after a season's conclusion to examine everything, Pelissero noted, and going back to the regular season, Jones had not expressed any desire to make a coaching change.

McCarthy, who has one year left on his contract, has gone 42-25 as the Cowboys' head coach, including three straight 12-win seasons that included a pair of NFC East titles. However, the 60-year-old coach is 1-3 in the playoffs and is the sixth straight Dallas head coach since Barry Switzer in 1995 to come up short of leading the Cowboys past the Divisional Round.

As Dallas' high expectations fell well short yet again, McCarthy's status for 2024 has become a hot button issue not yet cooled or concluded by Jones.

Pelissero noted it's "certainly in the realm of possibility" that the Cowboys retain McCarthy, but with defensive coordinator Dan Quinn receiving head coaching interest from multiple teams, it's likely big changes to the Dallas coaching staff will come to fruition.