The NFL head coach hiring cycle is in full swing and change is in the air. Teams without a head coach are spending this week interviewing candidates but have to submit requests to any candidates still employed by another team. Which can present complications. As the Chicago Bears are finding out.
It was reported Monday the Bears sent a request to the Dallas Cowboys to interview Mike McCarthy. The Cowboys have yet to decide if McCarthy will return for the 2025 season and beyond, but he is still under contract until the end of the week. As such other teams interested in McCarthy's services, such as Chicago, have to go through Dallas and Jerry Jones.
As of Tuesday, the Cowboys have not replied to the Bears' request, per ESPN's Adam Schefter. It seems they are ghosting their NFC foes as they figure out whether or not to retain McCarthy.
One day after the Bears sought permission from the Cowboys to interview Mike McCarthy for their vacant head coaching job, Dallas still has not responded to Chicago’s request, per source. pic.twitter.com/2HxcmSHoc8
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 7, 2025
It's a bit of a strange situation everyone finds themselves in. Opposing teams never request to interview the current head coach of another organization because that coach is under contract and presumably set in his position for the foreseeable future. But McCarthy, while under contract, has a very uncertain future. Thus, the Bears are motivated to interview him—and the Cowboys are motivated to leave them on read because they themselves don't know what they're doing yet.
As has always been the case under the Jones's, the Cowboys are incapable of doing anything normally. How this situation unfolds will be fascinating to see.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jerry Jones, Cowboys Ghosting Bears Over Request to Interview Mike McCarthy.
