‘A match made in hell’… Shannon Sharpe tells Cowboys not to hire in-demand head coach

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Fresh off another disappointing end to an NFL campaign, talks of who will coach the Dallas Cowboys next season is heating up.

For now, it will be Mike McCarthy, who’s under contract for another year, though the name Bill Belichick keeps popping up.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones declined to address the coaching situation on Sunday, still reeling from his team’s 48-32 defeat to the Green Bay Packers.

Belichick and the New England Patriots parted ways “mutually” after the regular season concluded, and as anticipated, the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach is in demand.

According to Bet MGM the Atlanta Falcons are the leading contenders to land Belichick at +200, with the Cowboys #5 on that list, under “any other NFL team” with odds of +900.

While Belichick seems to be the popular choice among most Cowboy fans, at least one former NFL player turned pundit thinks bringing him to “Big D” is a bad idea.

“Match Made in Hell”

Before their game with the Packers was finished, fans and journalists on social media were calling for McCarthy’s head.

McCarthy’s racked up 12 wins as Cowboys coach in each of the past three regular-season campaigns but is just 1-3 in the playoffs.

According to former tight end and current TV personality Shannon Sharpe, Jones and Belichick together doesn’t make sense.

Speaking on ESPN First Take Monday, Sharpe called the prospect of a Belichick/Jones relationship “a match made in hell”.

Sharpe contends that Belichick is a coach who wants authority, which is something he believes Jones is reluctant to give.

“You can’t pick a worse match than Jerry Jones and coach Bill Belichick… He got rid of Jimmy [Johnson]. He got rid of Bill Parcells, “says Sharpe.

“Do you understand? Coach Belichick learned under Parcells… Jimmy and coach Parcells and coach Belichick are more alike.

And once he got rid of Parcells, what has he done? Hired the Chan Gaileys, hired the Dave Campos, hired the Jason Garretts, hired Mike McCarthy.”

Parcells, Belichick’s mentor with the New York Giants in the 80s and early 90s coached the Cowboys for four seasons, making the playoffs on two occasions.

The dreaded four-year period

While Belichick’s resume certainly fits the Cowboys’ criteria, looking to win now, it’s uncertain if he’s the right fit.

In their illustrious history, the Cowboys have only ever had nine head coaches, with the longest serving one being the late Tom Landry, who was there for 29 years.

McCarthy is hoping to coach this team for the fifth straight year but based on Jones’ past history he may not get to that point.

Jason Garrett is the only former Cowboys coach this century to be on the job for over four years, serving as head coach from 2010-2020, the second-longest stint in franchise history.

The two coaches before Garrett, Parcells and Wade Phillips lasted four years each before departing, with Dave Campo, Chan Gailey and Barry Switzer each coaching the team for four years or fewer.

Of the nine former Dallas coaches, only Garrett, Jimmy Johnson and Tom Landry coached the Cowboys beyond the four-year mark.