THE TAKE
Right now, Mike McCarthy is the best coach in the AFC North. I’m not sure it’s particularly close.
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BOLDNESS
72/100
GRADE
4/100
PLAYERS / TEAMS
None tagged
GRADING CRITERIA
TRUE if Mike McCarthy's team (Dallas Cowboys) outperforms all AFC North teams' coaches by win-loss record, playoff advancement, or is ranked higher than AFC North coaches (Zac Taylor, Kevin Stefanski, John Harbaugh, Mike Tomlin) by recognized coaching metrics or consensus analyst rankings at end of the 2025-26 NFL season. Notably, McCarthy is an NFC coach and does not coach an AFC North team, which renders the take inherently flawed — grading should account for this factual error.
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OUTCOME
CONFIRMED FALSEAt the time the take was made (January 26, 2026), Mike McCarthy had just been hired as the Pittsburgh Steelers' head coach on January 24, 2026 — making him technically an AFC North coach, but only as a brand-new, unproven hire. He had spent the entire 2025 season away from coaching after his Cowboys contract expired. The AFC North's 2025 season was dominated by Tomlin (who won the AFC North title before stepping down) and Harbaugh, both widely regarded as elite coaches — not McCarthy, who had zero involvement in the 2025-26 season.