Dallas Cowboys: Why Kellen Moore won’t last long as offensive coordinator

Kellen Moore’s tenure as the offensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys won’t last very long. In other words, his clock is already ticking. Here’s why.

Dallas Cowboys fans are used to hearing about head coach Jason Garrett being on the hot seat or like former offensive coordinator Scott Linehan on the verge of being let go. In Garrett’s case, it was his seeming inability to get the team to realize their full potential. And for Linehan, it was his lack of creativity utilizing his offensive weapons.

Kellen Moore‘s circumstances are a bit different since he hasn’t coached in his first Cowboys game as the new offensive coordinator yet. His issue will be one of impatience. Not on the part of the Cowboys, but rather by one of a handful of general managers across the NFL who are looking for the next hottest coach to lead their organizations.

If Moore comes in and has the success Cowboys fans so desperately want, it will only take two top-5 type seasons by the Dak Prescott-led offense for general managers around the league to make him an offer he can’t refuse.

Hiring a young offensive genius without head coaching experience to come in and lead a franchise is not a new phenomenon. From 2001 to 2009, there were names like Marty Mornhinweg, Josh McDaniels, and Eric Mangini hired as NFL head coaches. They were each extremely bright and possessed the offensive imagination as coordinators that led general managers from other teams to believe their success as head coaches was inevitable.

Unfortunately, it didn’t translate to wins as the trio combined for a 49-91 win/loss record with no playoff victories, that according to Pro Football History. This was a blow to those teams who believed they had found the key to instant success.

Fast forward to 2019 and you see teams following a similar formula hiring names like Kliff Kingsbury, Zac Taylor, Freddie Kitchens, Matt LaFleur, Adam Gase, Bruce Arians, Matt Nagy, Frank Reich, Pat Shurmur, Jon Gruden, Kyle Shanahan, and Sean McVay to become head coaches.

These are all new head coaches with offensive backgrounds who are expected to take advantage of this new pass-happy league with rules that absolutely favor offenses. We are in the midst of an offensive genius renaissance. And a successful campaign by someone like Kellen Moore will put him squarely in the mix for a head coaching job soon.

All it takes is a quick glance at how the Boise State passing concepts bewildered college defenses during Moore’s four years under center as the Bronco’s quarterback to understand the Cowboys made the right call.  Joseph Ferraiola has a very in-depth analysis of Moore’s offensive mentality on insidethepylon.com that he called Simplified Confusion: Formations, Motion, and Numbers.  This was further reinforced in The Landry Hat’s own Steven Mullenax‘s story, Amari Cooper on Dallas Cowboys new offense: Same plays but disguised.

I firmly believe the Dallas Cowboys brain trust made the right decision when they promoted Kellen Moore as offensive coordinator. And soon it will be supported by others in the league with head coaching job offers. The question that remains is whether we will get a Super Bowl ring out of Moore’s genius or just a couple of years of amazing stats?

Agree or disagree? I’d love to hear what you think. Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below or on Twitter @ChrisThrillHill.