Why Kellen Moore is the proper head coach for the Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys are looking for a brand new head coach and one identify that has gained a number of traction is their previous good friend Kellen Moore. Not everybody welcomes bringing Moore again as some distinctly bear in mind the dangerous stuff. From being bludgeoned by all of the curl route rhetoric to seeing Ezekiel Elliott enjoying heart on the ultimate play he ever known as, it doesn’t deliver again nice recollections.

Whereas these are issues that individuals deliver up, there’s much more to this. No matter what some followers consider him, many individuals maintain him in excessive regard. And a kind of folks is Jerry Jones. Ought to the Cowboys run this factor again and provides Moore the keys to this soccer crew? Listed below are some issues it is best to take into account earlier than hashtagging NoKellenMoore.

Moore’s time in Dallas was attention-grabbing. Regardless of an underwhelming audition at quarterback late within the 2015 season, the crew needed to maintain him round. A coaching camp harm ended his season in 2016, and he frolicked on the follow squad in 2017. Despite the fact that his on-field efficiency wasn’t as much as snuff, the Cowboys didn’t wish to eliminate him. All of the speak across the group was about how sensible this man was, so it stunned nobody after they made him the quarterback coach in 2018.

After only one yr of NFL teaching, Moore was promoted to offensive coordinator, the place he instantly reworked the Cowboys’ offense. Dak Prescott went from a “game manager” to airing it out. Abruptly, this 227-yards-per-game quarterback was averaging over 300 yards per sport. We noticed issues from Prescott that we hadn’t seen earlier than. Within the first yr with Moore as their offensive coordinator, the Cowboys had probably the most complete yards and the perfect passing effectivity within the NFL.

Earlier than Moore’s arrival, the Cowboys’ offense had not led the league in complete yards on offense because the ‘70s. Now, they have done so in two of Moore’s first three seasons because the crew’s offensive coordinator. In 2021, the Cowboys scored 530 factors, probably the most in franchise historical past.

2022 was a bizarre season. Prescott missed 5 video games, however the Cowboys nonetheless completed fourth within the league in factors scored. What’s much more spectacular about that’s they did it with Noah Brown because the crew’s WR2. Ultimately, Prescott threw too many interceptions and Mike McCarthy needed a extra managed offense that complemented their protection. And similar to that, the Kellen Moore period had resulted in Dallas.

Moore took over because the offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Chargers the place every part was dangerous that season. They handled a number of accidents as he misplaced his WR2 Mike Williams early within the yr and all their offensive stars (Justin Herbert, Keenan Allen, and Austin Ekeler) missed time. On high of that, the Chargers’ protection was horrible so it was an uphill battle for the younger play-caller.

The Chargers reset their teaching workers, so Moore moved on to Philadelphia. Whereas the Eagles are having success, it’s arduous to find out how a lot of a task he performs in that. They’ve the perfect speeding assault within the NFL, however Saquon Barkley is an enormous a part of that. He’s lastly had some good luck within the well being division and proven what he’s able to doing. Additionally they have Jeff Stoutland, among the finest offensive line coaches within the league. That’s to not say Moore is only a bystander, but it surely’s unclear how a lot of their success is attributed to him.

What isn’t an unknown is what he means for Dak. These guys have been as soon as backup quarterbacks to Tony Romo and have partnered collectively for a lot of the post-Romo period in Dallas. Prescott loves him and it’s straightforward to see why. With Moore by his facet, Prescott is among the finest quarterbacks within the league.

When attempting to resolve issues, one strategy to decide how a lot of an element a variable is to the ultimate result’s to conduct a design of experiments. Between all of the totally different blocks of knowledge of head coaches, offensive coordinators, and quarterbacks, we now have sufficient information to indicate the Cowboys have been higher at scoring factors with Moore calling the performs. Are there different components that come into play? Completely, however this evaluation a minimum of helps place us in the proper course, and that course is – the Cowboys have been higher with Moore calling the performs.

Take into consideration how Moore used pre-snap movement, not simply extra steadily, however how properly it helped Prescott determine issues out shortly and isolate the matchups he needed. He took extra downfield photographs, used swing screens to get his receivers a working begin, and utilized gamers in ways in which some defenses weren’t prepared for. He was using CeeDee Lamb within the backfield earlier than it was cool and used double hand-offs with Zeke pitching it to Tony Pollard in these must-have fourth-down conversions. Moore’s offense simply supplied extra alternatives.

Whereas he is likely to be a greater play-caller than some would acknowledge, we don’t know what kind of head coach Moore would make. Some are apprehensive as a result of they view him with no management means. He’s “soft” as a result of he’s soft-spoken. Can he even get guys to hearken to him? Folks overlook he’s commanded the huddle each time he stepped on the soccer discipline. He’s no stranger to getting gamers to observe his lead. The actual measure of that can come within the choices he makes. If he’s serving to his gamers succeed, the respect will observe.

Anybody the Cowboys rent can be a big gamble. There are not any sure-fire winners. Moore provides better complexity to the offense, which might be good if the crew can execute it, however troublesome if they will’t. McCarthy’s schemes have been less complicated for Dallas which labored at occasions, however he bumped into issues in opposition to better-coached groups. Moore will face those self same challenges, besides there may be the upside that extra autonomy will deliver extra creativity to the Cowboys offense and provides them a better teaching benefit.

A Moore-coached crew will assault primarily based on their strengths. He’s proven he might be lethal on the bottom or by means of the air relying on his largest offensive weapons. He’ll additionally re-center Dak’s tasks. With Moore, it’s all concerning the particulars. He’ll belief the offensive linemen to make their checks on the line of scrimmage somewhat than Prescott dealing with that as he did at occasions underneath McCarthy. This may enable Dak to deal with what he must do at quarterback. He’ll deliver extra explosive performs to the offense and will re-establish his pink zone success, an space McCarthy struggled with immensely after Moore left.

Whereas the adjustments on offense are an enormous a part of the draw of Moore, it’s how he communicates with the Joneses that could possibly be his largest attribute. Some discuss with him as Jason Garrett 2.0 due to all of the similarities, however we do not know how comparable their teaching kinds can be. What can be matched although is their means to affect Jerry and Stephen Jones. Moore is a really vivid individual and articulates himself extraordinarily properly. Having the ability to persuade the Joneses to do issues otherwise is an enormous plus.

The Joneses respect Moore an awesome deal. In the event that they didn’t, they wouldn’t have pushed him on McCarthy when he turned the pinnacle coach and this dialogue wouldn’t even be taking place proper now. When he speaks, they’re reeled in, and growing and implementing the proper imaginative and prescient for the crew is paramount. Folks need a strong-willed head coach who gained’t be hindered by Jones’ meddling. That’s a pipe dream. Jerry Jones is rarely going away. The following smartest thing is a super-intelligent coach who can Jedi-mind trick them into doing issues his means. If he can do sufficient of that, the Cowboys have a preventing likelihood.