Tag: head coaching candidate

Report: Cowboys OC Kellen Moore not expected to get head coaching offer

Kellen Moore will likely be back in Dallas as OC in 2022, with one team’s search committee questioning his command and leadership style. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The Cowboys offense led the NFL in yards per game and points per game in 2021. As the architect of that unit, offensive coordinator Kellen Moore was expected to be a hot prospect for teams in the market for a new head coach this offseason. Sure enough, the 33-year-old received invites to sit down with four teams, some of those requests to discuss his next step coming before the Cowboys’ regular season had even concluded.

“Obviously, if the opportunity shows up, that would be awesome,” Moore said back in late December. “But we’ve got to take care of this thing first.” That was when Dallas was still priming themselves for what they believed would be a deep postseason run.

Now, of course, the Cowboys are watching the playoffs from home. And reports suggest that Moore will be taking care of this thing for at least another season.

According to Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network, Moore is not expected to receive a head-coaching offer from any of the teams he has interviewed with. Wilson cites “league sources not authorized to speak publicly” in his report.

Moore met with representatives from Jacksonville, Denver, Minnesota, and Miami over a span of about 12 days. But as per Wilson, “at least one hiring committee came away wondering if he has the commanding personality and leadership style to stand in front of an entire team and grab players’ attention.”

To be sure, Moore has a soft-spoken way about him. And he’s just two years older than a couple of his unit’s star players, Tyron Smith and Zack Martin; he’s three years older than backup lineman Ty Nsekhe.

After setting the college record for wins by a quarterback, Moore had an unremarkable stint as a pro passer, throwing just 104 balls (61 completions, four touchdowns, six interceptions) over a six-year career. After beginning in Detroit, he ended in Dallas, where a 2016 training camp injury helped pave the way for a rookie named Dak Prescott to be named the starter on opening day.

Moore became the Cowboys’ quarterbacks coach in 2018 after announcing his retirement. The next year, under head coach Jason Garrett, he was the team’s offensive coordinator and considered one of the brightest young playcallers in the league. He was retained by Mike McCarthy upon his hire in Dallas in 2020. Moore had an offer to become head coach of his alma mater, Boise State, and met with the Philadelphia Eagles in early 2021, but he ended up staying with the Cowboys.

It’s been a rapid ascent for Moore on the Cowboys coaching staff, one that McCarthy says will end with him being a head coach somewhere, despite his offense going out on a low note in this year’s wild-card exit.

“Kellen is on a fast track,” McCarthy said, even as Moore was in the middle of his four-team interview slate. “I think he’s definitely someone that’s worthy of this, and he has prepared himself very well.”

Now all signs are pointing to Moore getting another year of prep to put on his resume as he looks to keep the Cowboys offense among the league’s elite and build on 2021’s stats with postseason success.

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Report: Cowboys’ Dan Quinn among 3 finalists to become Broncos’ new HC

Quinn is the only finalist who’s been a head coach before and the only defensive mind of the group. He’ll likely fly to Denver this week. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Dan Quinn has made the first cut in Denver. The Broncos have interviewed ten candidates to fill their head coaching vacancy since firing Vic Fangio, but the team has apparently narrowed it down to three prospects: the Dallas defensive coordinator and two offensive specialists.

Quinn was thought to be a front-runner from the beginning, given his previous history with Broncos general manager George Paton. Quinn’s first meeting with Denver representatives came at a Dallas-area restaurant on January 18; he’s now expected to travel to the team’s headquarters for an on-site second interview, according to Mike Klis of Denver’s 9News.

The other two finalists are Green Bay offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell.

Dallas offensive coordinator Kellen Moore also met with Denver’s search-committee on the same day as Quinn. Ed Werder says Moore “impressed” the Broncos reps, but not enough to stay in the running for the job.

Quinn is the only candidate of the remaining three with head coaching experience. Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network reports that Paton is “likely to advocate” for Quinn, and speculates that, if hired, Quinn is expected to try to bring Cowboys secondary coach Al Harris with him to the Mile High City.

The second interview between Quinn and the Broncos is thought to be on the docket for this week; Quinn was in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Monday interviewing with the New York Giants about their head coaching position after also speaking with Minnesota, Miami, and Chicago.

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Report: Cowboys DC Dan Quinn to decline Jaguars interview for now

Jacksonville asked to interview the Cowboys defensive coordinator for their HC job; Quinn will reportedly not participate at this time.| From @ToddBrock24f7

Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn was up front this week when asked about the notion of him once again becoming a head coach  in the NFL. The former Falcons coach said he wasn’t using the Dallas DC job as a stepping-stone or resume-builder after five-plus years with the Falcons, but he also admitted, “If those moments come, I’ll be ready for them if the right scenario came about.”

The Jaguars requested permission to interview Quinn during the new two-week in-season window, but according to a new report from NFL insider Adam Schefter, Quinn has decided Jacksonville is not the right scenario… at least right now.

“I wasn’t coming here to look at what my next job would be,” Quinn told reporters on Monday following the Cowboys’ 56-14 win over Washington. “I wanted to come in here and have a blast and hopefully kick ass and make an impact.”

That he has. Quinn took over a unit that was statistically the worst in franchise history and transformed it over the course of a single offseason into one of the league’s most ferocious. He even took over head coaching duties for one game while Mike McCarthy was out with COVID.

Quinn is a big believer in “being where your feet are,” as he puts it. And his feet are in the middle of prepping for two more regular season games and focusing on a promising postseason run in Dallas.

“I’m having a blast right here with this crew and going for it,” Quinn continued. “That’s where my mind is, that’s where my heart is. I don’t really spend a lot of time thinking about down the road or what’s next. I just like really being in the moment with the guys.”

Quinn, 51, may get back to being the top man in charge with another club at some point. Maybe even next season. And it could even be with the Jaguars.

Bobby Belt of 105.3 The Fan adds that Quinn could still interview for the Jacksonville job, but that he will more likely wait until after the regular season has been completed.

New rules this season allow teams to interview assistants from other clubs (with proper permission) during the Week 17-18 window.

“For me, kind of getting back to being in the meeting rooms, getting into the teaching, being out on the field, getting to do individual with the guys, it’s been a blast. I definitely have enjoyed it,” Quinn explained this week.  “When you get let go, some of the joy is gone. You put your heart and soul in it… by me coming here and being a part of this, I recaptured a lot of that: what I love about coaching, all of the energy that goes into it. So my wife Stacey and I are having a blast here to do it. But to get back to the level of coaching and connection with the guys, it’s been all that I hoped it would be here.”

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Could Cowboys OC Kellen Moore be top candidate for Jaguars head coach opening?

With Urban Meyer out, the Jaguars’ head coaching job would seem to be a good fit for Cowboys OC Kellen Moore, at least on paper. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The Urban Meyer era is over in Jacksonville, and at least one Cowboys insider is already linking offensive coordinator Kellen Moore- at least in theory- to the job opening.

The just-reported kicking and belittling of former placekicker Josh Lambo by Meyer back in the preseason appeared to be the final straw for Jaguars owner Shad Khan, who fired Meyer just 13 games into his NFL tenure. It had been a disastrous fit, to put it mildly, for the successful college coach, who won three national championships at two schools but went just 2-11 in Jacksonville.

As Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News tweeted soon after the news of Meyer’s walking papers broke, the change at the top in Jacksonville could represent an opportunity for Moore, who figures to be a hot head coach candidate as the annual carousel cranks up once again.

Moore has been at the heart of Dak Prescott’s emergence as not only the leader of the club, but his development into one of the top quarterbacks in the league. The Jaguars job would give him a similar project with rookie passer Trevor Lawrence and the chance to reshape a roster that currently ranks near the bottom in several key categories.

The 33-year-old coordinator is considered an up-and-coming offensive mastermind. His playcalling prowess and close relationship with Prescott convinced Mike McCarthy to keep him in place- and give up his own playcalling duties- when he took over as Cowboys head coach in early 2020. Moore interviewed with the Philadelphia Eagles for their head coaching job- as well as the top spot at Boise State, his college alma mater- prior to the 2021 season, but he chose to stay in Dallas.

The Cowboys offense started the season as one of the units to watch around the league, surging to a 6-1 start in September and October. The past two months have seen a serious dip in production, though Cowboys players and staffers alike have expressed confidence in Moore’s methods and optimism that he’ll turn things around in time for a postseason run.

What happens after that run, however, just potentially got more interesting.

This is not the first time that late-season whispers of a possible move to north Florida have swirled around a popular Dallas coach. Jimmy Johnson was famously linked to a job as the expansion Jaguars’ first head coach back in December 1993, as his defending Super Bowl champion Cowboys prepared to play the Giants for the NFC East crown. Those persistent and public rumors helped stir up the bad blood that had been brewing between Johnson and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones; Johnson and the team parted ways three months later, after a second straight Super Bowl win (though Johnson was not hired by Jacksonville).

The Jaguars could request a virtual interview with Moore as early as Dec. 28, following the Cowboys’ Week 16 home game versus Washington.

Expect Moore and every member of the Cowboys front office, coaching staff, and offense to be asked about the Jacksonville job opening a few million times between now and then.

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