Fans of the Dallas Cowboys 2019 offense can rejoice, a little bit. It appears that new head coach Mike McCarthy, a staunch advocate of the West Coast offense, was enamored with the product that showed up for most of the Cowboys’ season. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, McCarthy has asked first-time offensive coordinator Kellen Moore a chance to return to his post for a second season.
The issue? Moore also has an offer to go work for the program being run by his former college coach, Chris Petersen. Peterson retired this past season from the University of Washington, opening the door for longtime assistant Jimmy Lake to take over. Lake has offered Moore the job as his offensive coordinator.
Update on #Cowboys OC Kellen Moore: New coach Mike McCarthy would like him to stay and remain OC, which may also help Moore learn a new system. But he also has an opportunity to go back home and become the University of Washington OC under Jimmy Lake. He is mulling it all over.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 7, 2020
In 2019, Dallas’ offense finished second in DVOA, a Football Outsiders metric that takes into account game situation, down and distance and opponent difficulty.
There is a lot to dissect in the decision for Moore. McCarthy is a play caller, and may want to keep that job as opposed to being a walk-around coach. If he does, than Moore would be serving in a game-planning role without the reward and accolades of calling the shots. He’d get that if he went to the college program, but what kind of path would that lead for him?
Neither are ideal for being a stepping stone to an NFL head coaching position, but in today’s game, neither would preclude it, either.
Kliff Kingsbury had head coaching experience at Texas Tech but had been fired from that job, taken an OC job at USC when the Arizona Cardinals hired him for his creative mind to be their head coach. Nothing is out of the realm of possibility if you interview well and have a creative mind to sell an organization.
Lake was a defensive coach, including his time at Boise State when Moore was breaking all sorts of passing records under Petersen’s tutelage. It would undoubtedly be his show to run on the offensive side of the ball if he were to go to Washington. Unlike his experience in 2019 under Jason Garrett and what has to be perceived as at least one year of learning under McCarthy, he’d be his own man through and through.
However, for a guy who has been drawing up plays on a napkin since he was a kid, getting first-hand exposure to the WCO after spending years in the Air Coryell system could be the type of apprenticeship that would carry his play book to astronomical levels when he ascends to the biggest stage, an NFL head coach.
Decisions, decisions, decisions.
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