The Dallas Cowboys are in the market for a new head coach and the candidate who leads many odds lists at the moment is Kellen Moore, offensive coordinator for the Eagles.

Cowboys fans will obviously remember Moore for his eight years playing and coaching in Dallas. From 2019 through 2022, Moore served as the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator.  During that time he led the Dallas offense into the top 10 on three different occasions. His offense led the NFL in total yards two different times and the team posted 12 wins two different times. With a healthy Dak Prescott, Moore had the Cowboys consistently positioned in elite territory.

The two years that followed his departure from Dallas, Moore served as coordinator of the Los Angeles Chargers (2023) and Philadelphia Eagles (2024). He led the Chargers offense to a No. 17 ranking and the Eagles to a No. 6 ranking (EPA/play). At age 35, Moore is one of the brightest young minds in the NFL today. To Jerry Jones and his coaching search, he’s a familiar face with upside.

Cowboys fans haven’t generally been excited about the proposition of a Moore reunion. Citing the many curl routes to nowhere and underwhelming route combinations, they would rather look at new blood for the head coaching position than bring back someone who, in their eyes, already tried and failed.

Other Cowboys fans, those who remember the times of plenty under Moore, are excited about the idea of their old coach coming back. They see what he’s accomplished with the Eagles this season and would love nothing more than to repeat that success in Dallas.

Determining which side of the fanbase is right and which side is wrong would probably be simplifying a rather complex issue. Moore isn’t the same coach he was when he left the Cowboys back in 2023, just like he’s wasn’t the same coach he was with the Chargers when he went to Philadelphia, nor will he be the same coach he’s been with the Eagles if he comes to Dallas.

Moore is a mixture of styles. He’s part Air Coryell and part West Coast but also a little bit of Kyle Shanahan.

Like most young coaches he’s been influenced by the men he’s worked under and like most, he’s searching for ways to blend and apply that knowledge. Based on this, it’s hard to be too upset or too excited about the type of offense he’d bring back to Dallas, because no one truly knows what it would look like.

Moore traditionally tailors his attack to lean on the pieces he has available to him. All coaches do that to some extent, but Moore seems especially mailable to the circumstances of his team. In Moore’s last two seasons in Dallas his pass frequency over expected sat at -2 percent, meaning he ran at a rate above expectations. In LA that flipped to +1 percent, likely because the Chargers running game was poor. With the Eagles he’s at a staggering -8 percent. A number that’s not overly surprising since Saquon Barkley is one of the most dominant runners in the game.

Moore wants to run the ball, but looking at his history, he bases the frequency on the effectiveness. He’s not one to run the ball just for the sake of running the ball. Moore historically likes to have his quarterback play under center more often than others, he uses larger personnel groups more often than normal, and he uses motion more often than normal. He spreads the ball around in the passing game and avoids feeding just one player. He’s not one to use play-action a ton but when the ground game is humming and the wide zone is cracking, his offense can look like a Shanahan offense in many ways.

Moore still calls frustrating plays where it appears every route reaches a dead-end at the exact same time, but he’s much more than that. He’s an evolving coach with upside, creativity, and an open mind working to his advantage.

Moore might not be Joe Brady, or Ben Johnson, but he’s one of the most intriguing young minds on the coaching market this season and as someone who’s so unsettled in his development, he’s also a bit of a wild card.

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