Troy Aikman gives honest opinion on Cowboys firing Mike McCarthy after five seasons

On Monday, the Dallas Cowboys announced that the team will part ways with head coach Mike McCarthy after five seasons together and will commence their search for a new head coach to lead the roster in 2025 and beyond.

Last week, the team rejected an interview request from the Chicago Bears, suggesting they were keen on retaining McCarthy's services. They also didn't field lineup any interview requests of their own, further giving the impression that they'd stick with the veteran. However, the two sides reportedly couldn't agree on terms of a contract extension and decided to go their separate ways.

NFL analyst and Cowboys icon Troy Aikman was astonished about McCarthy's exit and flamed the franchise for their poor management of his departure. Ahead of ESPN's Monday Night Countdown, the Hall of Famer said:

"I thought Mike McCarthy would be the head coach, so this is a bit of a surprise for me today that he's not going to be... It suggests that there's not a real plan. The fact that they haven't had the opportunity to maybe interview a Ben Johnson and some of these other [coaches] like Aaron Glenn. As far as Kellen Moore being a candidate [goes], that seems logical to me."

Aikman also claimed that the Cowboys are no longer a franchise that coaches dream about joining. He added:

"As far as [it] being a coveted job, I don't know if that's accurate. I do think the Cowboys are obviously a high-profile team. Whoever is head coach of that team is certainly going to draw a lot of attention. But most football people that take over as a head coach, they want to do it on their terms. And that's hard to do [in Dallas]...

"I wish [the Cowboys] well but to say that it's a coveted job, I'm not sure I would necessarily agree with that."