WHAT A TRAGEDY AND DEVESTATED SAD NEWS FOR DALLAS COWBOYS HEAD COACH AND HIS TEAMS PLAYERS

The New England Patriots quickly made the transition from Bill Belichick to his eventual successor, Jerod Mayo. Within 24 hours after the team and its long-time head coach announced a mutual parting of the ways, Mayo was introduced.

While we therefore know what the future holds for the Patriots, at least to a degree, the same cannot be said about Belichick. He is expected to continue coaching even though he will turn 72 in April, and given his status as arguably the greatest head coach in NFL history is likely to draw some interest.

The Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers were both mentioned as possible landing spots, but it appears a new challenger might have emerged on Sunday. Following their 48-32 wild card playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers, the Dallas Cowboys also might be looking at a coaching change to replace Mike McCarthy.

McCarthy, who arrived in 2020, did enjoy quite a bit of regular season success with the Cowboys. After going 6-10 in his first year at the job, Dallas went 12-5 and qualified for the playoffs in three straight years — including twice as NFC East champions.

Once in the playoffs, however, they failed to make much noise. McCarthy’s squad went one-and-done in 2021, exited in the divisional round the following year, and now has again been knocked from the tournament at the first opportunity again. Their 16-point home as the No. 2 seed appeared to be a particular blow to the organization.

Team owner and general manager Jerry Jones said so himself.

“This is one of my [biggest] surprises since I’ve been involved in sports, period. To that degree, I know how disappointed everyone is,” Jones said after the game.

“This seems like the most painful [playoff loss] because we all had such great expectation, and we had hope for this team. I thought that we were aligned and in great shape, but it didn’t happen for us. And it’s as fresh on me as it is on anybody else, but I won’t get into addressing any of the aspects at any part, from coaching to the players.”

While Jones refrained from addressing McCarthy’s future, the fact that Belichick is available in itself might be bad news for the Cowboys’ current HC. The former Patriots coach, after all, offers a résumé that does not have its equal and has shown time and again that he can get a team over the playoff hump — especially one as talented as Dallas.

So far, however, this all remains speculative in nature. As of Monday morning, Belichick has yet to be invited to any coaching interviews.

The Cowboys eventually reaching out would not come as too big a surprise, however.