Jerry Jones has done it before. He did it once already this week. And he’s convinced he’ll be able to do it again.
After convincing defensive coordinator Dan Quinn to remain in place on the Cowboys coaching staff, even though he believes Quinn had a head coaching job from another club on the table, the 79-year-old owner thinks he’ll have offensive coordinator Kellen Moore back, too.
Like Quinn, Moore has been a popular candidate on the interview circuit. The former backup quarterback has apparently landed a second interview with the Miami Dolphins for their head coaching position. But in a radio interview with Dallas station 105.3 The Fan on Friday, Jones told the K&C Masterpiece show he has a good feeling about Moore’s return to Dallas.
The hosts asked Jones a three-part question: Does he tend to get a sense of how things go when a staffer interviews with another club? Does the other team contact the Cowboys to offer information? And does Jones think his offensive coordinator will be back in Dallas in 2022?
Jones gave a very blunt answer that also came in three parts:
“I get a sense. They do not reach out. And I believe he’ll be back next year.”
Moore commandeered the 2021 Cowboys to a No. 1 leaguewide ranking in yards per game and points per game. But the overall production tapered off dramatically after the Week 7 bye, concluding with a rather limp effort in the wild card round of the playoffs versus San Francisco.
As the numbers dropped, public opinion of Moore soured. In the minds of many among the fickle Cowboys fanbase, he went from a creative playcalling mastermind who could replace head coach Mike McCarthy immediately to a predictable Jason Garrett/Scott Linehan disciple who should be run out of town at the earliest opportunity.
So far, Moore has interviewed with Jacksonville, Denver, Minnesota, and Miami for their head coach opening.
Jones reiterated that he wants to keep Moore in the building in Dallas. But he wasn’t opposed to saying that he might be in need of some occasional mentoring from the offensively-minded McCarthy.
The head coach kept Moore on staff when he was hired in 2020, making it plain that he would leave the offense in his young coordinator’s hands.
On Friday, Jones intimated that McCarthy exercising a bit more of his personal influence when it comes to the offensive scheme isn’t out of the question moving forward.
“No question,” Jones said, “that we’re going to attempt- hard- and use everything that Mike has got in his background experience to help us on every part of this football team.”
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