NFL: Betting Odds for Next Dallas Cowboys Head Coach

There is no owner in the NFL more hands-on than Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. There is also no owner who hypes his team more than Jones. This past off-season, Jones — who is also the team’s general manager — made the declaration that he was “all-in” on the Cowboys winning a Super Bowl this season. He then proceeded to leave the Cowboys short-handed when coming into the season.

With Rico Dowdle as the best running back on the roster, Dallas is 31st in the NFL in rushing yards per game and 29th in yards per carry. CeeDee Lamb was the only healthy wide receiver on the roster with a season of more than 500 yards. Lamb is averaging the lowest yards per catch of his career, and he and Jalen Tolbert are the only two wide receivers with more than 200 yards.

Now, quarterback Dak Prescott is lost for the season with a hamstring tear. Before the injury, and after Prescott signed a four-year, $240 million contract, he had the lowest QBR of his career, the lowest touchdown rate of his career, and his worst completion percentage since 2017.

Jones has been in fights with local media. He yelled at reporters last week about the sun that continues to blind his players during games, and his current head coach, Mike McCarthy, is a lame duck. His contract expires at the end of this season, and there are no plans to negotiate a new one.

Watching Jones work is always fascinating, and the choice he makes for his next head coach, assuming McCarthy really is gone, is going to be one to watch.

Mike Vrabel (+300)

Mike Vrabel was very popular with his players as the head coach of the Tennessee Titans, and with three trips to the postseason, he was popular with the fans. He also learned from Bill Belichick as a New England Patriots player, and he is still in his 40s.

As long as Vrabel is available, he is going to be near the top of most coaching searches.

Ben Johnson (+500)

Ben Johnson is the offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions, which makes him very likely to move into the head coaching ranks next season. The one thing that might work against Johnson is the Lions’ plan to play deep into the postseason. When many teams will be conducting interviews and making hires, Johnson hopes to be busy all the way into February.

Bill Belichick (+600)

You can sign Vrabel, a Belichick disciple, or you can sign the man himself. Jones has flirted with the idea of Belichick ever since he left his job with the Patriots. But would Belichick, a guy who had total control at the end of his time in New England, work well with the total control wielded by Jones?

Jones was able to lure Bill Parcells out of retirement, and the two worked okay together. In four years, the Cowboys made the playoffs twice, but never got beyond the Wild Card. Could he do the same with Belichick?

Brian Flores (+1000)

Brian Flores has head coaching experience with the Miami Dolphins, and he had a 10-win season in his second year. He’s also rocketed up the list of potential 2025 hires because of the defense he leads with the Minnesota Vikings this year. He was a Patriots assistant coach for 11 years before getting his first head coaching job in Miami, and he would love to get a second bite at the apple.

Lane Kiffin (+1000)

Lane Kiffin was briefly in the NFL with the then-Oakland Raiders in 2007 and 2008. He was just 31-years-old at the time of his hiring. Things did not go well on the field, and they went even worse behind the scenes. When Raiders owner Al Davis held the news conference to announce that he was firing Kiffin, he called him “a flat-out liar” and said he was guilty of “bringing disgrace to the organization.”

Kiffin is now older, he’s been a very successful college football head coach, and his Ole Miss Rebels just beat Georgia last weekend. And for all of Jones’ quirks, he’s easier on his head coaches than Davis was.

Deion Sanders (+1000)

Jones likes to make a splash, like he did with Parcells and like he would do with Belichick. But would any potential hire grab the headlines for the Cowboys more than hiring Deion Sanders?

Sanders is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame, but he is not a member of the Cowboys Ring of Honor. And he’s okay with that. Sanders, who played five of his 14 NFL seasons in Dallas, said of the omission, “I didn’t contribute enough. All of those people that are there, they are known for being a Dallas Cowboy. I am known for being an Atlanta Falcon.”

But could he get in as a Cowboys head coach, joining Tom Landry and Jimmy Johnson. And he would be the spashiest of hires, having completely turned the program in Colorado around. In 2022 Colorado football won just a single game. In two years as head coach, Sanders has the Buffs in control of their own College Football Playoff destiny.

One potential pitfall is that Sanders may tie his hiring to a guarantee that the Cowboys would draft his son, CU quarterback Shedeur Sanders. Sanders is a top quarterback prospect, but Prescott has a $151 million dead cap hit in 2025, and he isn’t going anywhere. The Cowboys don’t have a good out from his contract until 2028.