Sunday 5 January 2020 09:17, UK
The Dallas Cowboys are talking to former head coaches Mike McCarthy and Marvin Lewis in the surest sign so far that they are moving on from Jason Garrett.
The Cowboys do not officially have a vacancy, but Jason Garrett's contract expires on January 14 and Dallas arereportedly interested in candidates with previous head coaching experience.
Dallas missed the playoffs for the sixth time in Garrett's nine full seasons by finishing 8-8 in a year that started with high expectations.
The Cowboys started 3-0 before going 4-8 in the next 12 games with a pair of three-game losing streaks.
McCarthy, 56, has already met with the Cleveland Browns, New York Giants and Carolina Panthers.
He was fired by the Packers on December 2, 2018, after the team dropped to 4-7-1 during his 13th season at the helm in Green Bay.
He finished with a 125-77-2 regular-season record while going 10-8 in the postseason, including a victory in Super Bowl XLV in the 2010 season.
McCarthy's Packers twice knocked Garrett's Cowboys out of the playoffs, winning divisional-round games on January 11, 2015 (26-21 at Lambeau Field) and January 15, 2017 (34-31 at AT&T Stadium).
Lewis, 61, coached the Bengals for 16 seasons and compiled a 131-122-3 record with seven playoff appearances (0-7 record) from 2003-18.
Cincinnati fired Lewis after a 6-10 season in 2018 and hired Zac Taylor.
Lewis spent the 2019 season as a special advisor to head coach Herm Edwards at Arizona State.
The New York Giants interviewed Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy for their vacant head-coaching position.
Bieniemy, 50, met with team president John Mara, general manager Dave Gettleman and vice president of football operations Kevin Abrams in Kansas City.
Bieniemy has worked on coach Andy Reid's Kansas City staff for seven seasons, the last two as offensive coordinator, although Reid calls the plays.
He is the third candidate interviewed since New York dismissed Pat Shurmur on Monday, joining McCarthy and Dallas Cowboys defensive passing game coordinator Kris Richard.
Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski will interview next week for the head-coach openings with the Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported.
The scheduling will depend on the result of Minnesota's NFC wild-card playoff matchup on Sunday in New Orleans, per the report.
Stefanski, 37, was a finalist for the position last year in Cleveland.
Multiple reports indicated at the time that Browns owner Jimmy Haslam preferred Stefanski, but then-general manager John Dorsey opted for Freddie Kitchens.
Kitchens and Dorsey both were fired after a disappointing 6-10 season.
