Jacksonville faces an important decision this offseason. After essentially wasting quarterback Trevor Lawrence’s rookie season on the failed Urban Meyer experiment, they must get their ongoing head coaching search right. Because developing Lawrence is the top priority, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that many of the names that have been associated with the opening are coaches with extensive backgrounds working with quarterbacks.
There are older candidates with head coaching experience and a good track record with passers like Doug Pederson and Jim Caldwell, but if the Jags wanted to go with a young up-and-comer, it would be hard to find a coach who is a more well-regarded offensive mind than Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.
There are other impressive young offensive coordinators available like Byron Leftwich and Nathanial Hackett, but neither carry quite as much of a reputation as Moore. With that in mind, here’s what you need to know about him as a potential candidate.
Background
Moore’s name should sound familiar to college football fans, as he led one of the most exciting mid-major programs this century at Boise State, where he started 50 games (an FBS record) from 2008-11. He was named his conference’s player of the year in each of his final three seasons, and he won the Fiesta Bowl after the 2009 season.
An undrafted player in the 2012 draft, Moore eventually landed with the Detroit Lions, where he spent three seasons as a backup quarterback before taking on the same role in Dallas. He retired from the NFL in 2018, but his knowledge of the Cowboys’ offense proved beneficial, as he was nearly immediately named the team’s quarterbacks coach. One year later, he was promoted to offensive coordinator.
Moore survived the coaching change when Jason Garrett was fired in favor of Mike McCarthy, and he has developed one of the better offenses in the NFL with quarterback Dak Prescott and a talented pair of young receivers in CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup.
He’s just 33 and is seen by some as the “coach in waiting” for the Cowboys, but McCarthy probably isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and he may look to capitalize on his team’s success now.
Why Moore could be a good choice?
Simply put, this team has to find a coach that can take advantage of the talent Lawrence brings to the table. He didn’t have a very good rookie season, but he was also limited by other problems around him, such as receivers with drop tendencies and questionable play-calling. That doesn’t necessarily preclude a defensive hire (though the offensive coordinator hire would be crucial, in that case), it does seem like Jacksonville will try to target a head coach on the offensive side.
Leftwich may be the more popular choice among fans if the team decides to pass on the more experienced options, and there are reasons to like him more as a candidate than Moore. For one, he’s been a coach for longer — though only by one season — and he’s worked for multiple organizations, whereas Moore has been with the Cowboys as a player or coach since 2015.
But there are also question marks with Leftwich, namely the fact that he’s had the greatest quarterback of all time for the last two seasons. While Moore is working with a cupboard that’s far from bare, there are fewer questions about his role in the team’s success on offense.
Moore is significantly younger than Leftwich, and he’s considered something of a prodigy in the NFL when it comes to offense and quarterback play, specifically. He will be a head coach sooner rather than later, and though hiring him could prove to be a bit risky, it could also pay off immensely for a franchise that has been on life support since an AFC Championship appearance in 2017.