Cowboys head coach power rankings: 4 biggest nightmares Jerry Jones would hire

After one of the strangest weeks in franchise history — and really, that's saying something — the Dallas Cowboys have officially moved on from head coach Mike McCarthy. It seemed like the two sides might be able to come to contract agreement before McCarthy's deal expired on Jan. 14, with the Cowboys even refusing to let him take an interview with the Chicago Bears, but it turned out that Jones was only interested in a reunion if it came on his exact terms.

So now Dallas finds itself back on the coaching carousel, and with Jones at the helm, history tells us that's a very dangerous place for this franchise to be. There are plenty of candidates who would make sense for the Cowboys, from Lions coordinators Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn to even someone like Colorado head coach Deion Sanders. Jones, however, doesn't often do the thing that makes sense, which means

4. USC head coach Lincoln Riley

Sure, the bloom is off the rose a bit here after two down seasons with the Trojans. But Riley is a Texas native with a reputation for putting up a ton of points, and his name has been linked to the Cowboys job going all the way back to 2019 — the coaching search that eventually ended with McCarthy heading to Dallas.

Riley combines all the things that Jones loves the most in a head coach. He's a splashy name who would win the press conference, he's an offensive mind like McCarthy, Jason Garrett and Kellen Moore before him, and most importantly of all, he doesn't have the stature around the league to tell Jones what he can and can't do with his roster and his franchise. A hot young candidate that Jones can take all the credit for and push around in meetings? Where can he sign?

3. Former Cowboys OC Kellen Moore

Of course, before Riley there was Moore, who sure seemed like the heir apparent to McCarthy before everything fell apart a couple of years ago. He has a great relationship with Dak Prescott, and while he doesn't have any head coaching experience, he has the trust of Jones and the organization after spending years as both backup quarterback and offensive coordinator.

Again, Jones loves himself a whiz kid, both because it makes him feel like he's on the cutting edge and because they're young and inexperienced enough to get pushed around a bit. It's also worth noting that we have no idea how Moore would handle the responsibilities that come with the top job; while his track record as a play-caller is solid enough, it's certainly not unimpeachable, and that doesn't have much of a bearing on how he'd manage a game or build a staff or lead a locker room.

2. Former Panthers, Commanders head coach Ron Rivera

If this feels like a name out of left field, well, it shouldn't. Jones clearly was torn about letting McCarthy go, eventually doing so only after the head coach refused to bend the knee and take the extremely team-friendly terms that Jones was offering him. Rivera is essentially a carbon copy of McCarthy, an establishment candidate with a ton of head coaching experience and connections around the league — but who, crucially, is desperate enough for a job that he could be had for (relatively) cheap.

Rivera made five postseason appearances across 13 seasons as head coach of the Carolina Panthers and Washington Commanders, and we all had fun making those Riverboat Ron memes (which McCarthy could learn a thing or two from, frankly). But this would be about as uninspiring a hire as you could imagine, considering just how long it's been since Rivera was at the cutting edge of defensive scheme and how mediocre his teams were toward the end of his tenure in Washington. But Jones loves a Serious Football Guy, and if he was willing to stick with McCarthy for this long, he probably has a lot of respect for Rivera.

1. Former Cowboys TE Jason Witten

Witten's name has popped up a few times already in this coaching search, with recent reports suggesting that Dallas initially envisioned their all-time leading receiver coming on as a coach-in-waiting under McCarthy. Shockingly, McCarthy didn't love the idea of hiring the guy in line to eventually take his job, and the idea died on the vine. But with the team now in need of a new coach, could Jones' obvious respect for his former star tight end lead him to making a colossal mistake?

And really, what evidence exactly do we have to suggest that Witten would be anything other than a disaster as a head coach? You just know that Jones is trying to talk himself into the idea of Witten as a Dan Campbell type, a respected football guy who would be able to build a culture of toughness and delegate the Xs and Os to his coordinators. But that's a very tough act to pull off, and it's worth noting that Campbell had years of coaching experience before landing the Detroit Lions job. The top line on Witten's resume? Winning back-to-back state titles with Liberty Christian, a private high school in Texas. Then again, he looks good at a press conference and is a company man, so don't count him out.