The 12th-winningest head coach in NFL history will reportedly spend 2025 focusing on the 2026 hiring cycle. It’s a tactic he’s used before.

Mike McCarthy will not become the next head coach of the New Orleans Saints. McCarthy has decided to not take a head coach job in 2025 and to instead focus on the 2026 hiring cycle, simila

Former Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy does not plan to coach this year. The New Orleans Saints are the only team still looking to hire a head coach, with six other franchises previously filling their vacancies.

After careful consideration, Mike McCarthy has made a decision on his future. The former Dallas Cowboys ' head coach has decided to forego coaching in the NFL next season, sources told NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero. MORE: Cowboys' VP Will McClay emphasizes organizational alignment with Brian Schottenheimer

According to NFL media, McCarthy has decided to focus on the 2026 hiring cycle. He won’t coach in 2025. The difference between last time and this time is that he had a buyout after the Packers moved on. McCarthy, whose contract expired on January 14, will not be paid this year.

Were Mickey Loomis and McCarthy playing a game of chicken and Saints lost, or is Moore (or someone else) the real target, anyway?

Mike McCarthy has decided that he will not coach in the NFL in the 2025 season, NFL Network Insiders Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday, as the former Cowboys and Packers head coach has decided to instead focus on the 2026 hiring cycle.

McCarthy, whose contract expired with the Cowboys and wasn't signed to an extension, will sit out the 2025 season, according to NFL Media's Tom Pelissero. McCarthy removed his name from consideration for the New Orleans Saints' vacancy. The Saints are the last team to have a head coaching job open this offseason.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the former Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers headman removed himself from the New Orleans Saints head coaching race last night. McCarthy’s intentions will now be on the 2026 head coaching cycle.

Mike McCarthy reportedly will not be the next head coach of the New Orleans Saints. NFL Network's Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday

McCarthy is the third high-profile candidate to pull out of the Saints' search, joining Buffalo offensive coordinator Joe Brady and Washington offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury.

There's just one open head coach position in the NFL, and Mike McCarthy will not be the candidate filling it as he instead focuses on next year.