The Philadelphia Eagles are borrowing money from a rival to build their offense around him. The Eagles have hired former Los Angeles Chargers and Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. He coached for one year with the Chargers, the same season head coach Brandon Staley was fired. Prior to that, he was with Dallas, the Eagles' NFC East opponent, since 2018.
Moore joined Dallas that year as quarterbacks coach and was later promoted to offensive coordinator. This didn't last long, and Dallas eventually released him and let Mike McCarthy take over the play calling. Moore spent four years there, including three as a play-caller, but didn't have much success with Dak Prescott and the offense. But it wasn't all bad, as he had a stellar career with the Cowboys.
During his tenure as OC, Dallas led the NFL in yards twice and matched that in points in 2021. Despite his decline, he is still considered one of the most respected offensive heads in the league. He now gets to work behind the Eagles quarterback. Jalen Hurts will help head coach Nick Sirianni drive the offense. Sirianni has a new coordinator, recently hiring defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.
Kellen Moore will get a chance to rediscover himself under Hurts as he plays to the power of Philadelphia's offense.
Another big assistant move in Philadelphia. Sources say the Eagles are hiring former Chargers and Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore as their offensive coordinator.
Moore and Vic Fangio will be the Eagles' coordinators. pic.twitter.com/5i4qmVAEPB
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 28, 2024
Philadelphia Eagles hire new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore
A chance to rekindle an old bitter rivalry
The Eagles finished with the seventh-most points in the league, but faltered after going 1-6 in overtime, including a blowout loss to the Buccaneers in the wild card game. This gave rise to the idea of having Moore open up old wounds. That could be bad news or good news for the Dallas Cowboys, who released him after four seasons. It appears Moore could be part of a revenge campaign as he plays the Cowboys twice each year in Philadelphia.
The Dallas Cowboys head coach lashed out at his former offensive coordinator after he failed to put a light on the scoreboard, which ultimately hurt the defense. Maybe he pointed after Moore was sent off. Moore became the latest scapegoat after that year's lackluster postseason results. Now, if he stays with the team, he will create plays for the Eagles' offense to counter Dan Quinn's defense.
While some Cowboys fans are laughing at Philadelphia's move to hire Moore, it could mean trouble for Dallas. He may still remember the Cowboys' playbook and the times he was blamed. It's important to keep in mind that many around the Cowboys still respect Moore as an offensive coordinator. Moore had everything to make Dallas' offense work until they ran out of offensive weapons and Prescott's performance declined.
However, Philadelphia's offense is healthy and has legitimate weapons that could help ease the campaign with the team when Moore arrives.
Everything may come full circle for Moore.
Despite losing Prescott the following season in 2020, Moore had a great debut season. Once Prescott returned, the Cowboys' offense got back on track. CeeDee Lamb and Amari Cooper were the main weapons at the time attacking opponents and building yards. This all came crashing down against better teams and his poor performance in the postseason.
Statistics are just statistics, and the Cowboys just want to win. This is a crucial moment for Dallas, but Philadelphia could be conducting an experiment to see how well Moore would fit. Moore has lots of new toys to play with in Philadelphia. D'Andre Swift, Kenneth Gainwell, AJ Brown and Dallas Goedert are new weapons Moore can experiment with.
It may pay off for the new offensive coordinator, but Cowboys fans are hoping this isn't a “full circle” scenario for them.
