A less-charitable one, considering Dallas’ breadth of data on McCarthy’s performance and this season effectively being over since October, is this being the latest clumsy attempt at a football telenovela, with the plot twist—surprise, Mike is gone after all!—timed to drop the morning after two of Dallas’ NFC East rivals each won playoff games.

The Dallas Cowboys and head coach Mike McCarthy are parting ways, the Cowboys announced on Monday via a statement from Jerry Jones. The Cowboys hired McCarthy to be their head coach in 2020. During his five-year tenure, the Cowboys had a 49-35 record.

The move comes after McCarthy and the Cowboys missed the playoffs for the first time since his inaugural season in 2020.