Will Black Monday Impact Cowboys?

It’s the day that every head coach on the hot seat fears the most – Black Monday. After the regular season ends, most teams move fast with firings of head coaches and general managers.

Thus far there are several openings in the NFL, and they are:

• San Francisco 49ers – Jim Harbaugh
• Atlanta Falcons – Mike Smith
• Chicago Bears – Mark Trestman & Phil Emery (GM)
• Oakland Raiders – Dennis Allen (fired during season)
• New York Jets – Rex Ryan & John Idzik (GM)

There could be more firings announced later. Jay Gruden and Ron Rivera are on the hot seat and there could be moves there as well. The Panthers will likely delay any decision until after the Panthers finish their playoff run, they clinched the division with a losing record.

With all this being said, how does Black Monday effect the Dallas Cowboys? Let’s take a look at some potential staff changes.

— Will McClay is my biggest fear of losing right now. The guy has a true talent and finding talent and created a very impressive draft board this past draft. To me, McClay ended a lot of the bad draft classes that Tom Ciskowski reeled off. Horrific draft classes of 2009 and 2012, highlight Ciskowski’s drafting ineptitude, so Jerry elevated McClay to the Draft Czar. There’s aleardy rumors that McClay will get a look at for the Jets. Jerry will likely counter with a nice raise, I would hope so. McClay’s next task will be to upgrade the defensive line, so let’s hope he’ll be here to do that for us.

— Rod Marinelli is expected to chart off to Tampa Bay once the Cowboys season officially ends. There are thoughts that Mark Eberflus would be the in-house coach to take over the defensive coordinator duties. In a perfect world, I would love to keep Marinelli, but he has an allegiance to Lovie Smith. Maybe nothing happens here, but it would not surprise me one bit.

— Bill Callahan wanted to leave last offseason, but was under contract and Jerry Jones retained him. Callahan was demoted from Offensive Coordinator to Offensive Line coach, so the Cowboys would likely elevate Frank Pollack or the could go after another coach, but continuity would serve our offensive line best. Callahan is one of the best offensive line coaches in the league, so he’ll be a hot commodity for a number of teams.

I expect Jerry Jones to extend Jason Garrett at seasons end along with his assistants.