The Dallas Cowboys executed a news dump for the ages Sunday evening. Just moments before the Chiefs and Bengals kicked off in the AFC Championship Game, it was reported the Cowboys parted ways with offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.
The writing was seemingly on the wall after Mike McCarthy was noncommittal about Moore’s future with the organization earlier last week. The surprising news ends Moore’s four-year run as the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator.
The speculation has already started in terms of whom Dallas will appoint to replace Moore. Some of the top external candidates include Eagles QBs coach Ben Johnson and Rams passing game coordinator Zac Robinson, who may be looking for a promotion after LA hired Mike LaFleur to be their new OC.
With Mike McCarthy expected to assume play-calling duties, though, the Cowboys might look internally for Moore’s replacement.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at what’s left of Dallas’ coaching staff, and rank the team’s in-house replacements for Moore.
Ranking Cowboys in-house replacements for Kellen Moore
3. Scott Tolzien (coaching assistant)
It might be too early in Tolzien’s coaching career to make the jump to offensive coordinator, but his experience in Dallas is impossible to ignore.
Tolzien has been with the Cowboys since Mike McCarthy arrived. He’s served as a coaching assistant, with most of his work coming with the quarterback room. That close relationship with Dak Prescott is important given Prescott, though the pilot of a high-scoring offense, is coming off the worst year of his career.
Don’t discount Tolzien’s experience under McCarthy, either. It’s unclear how much weight that will carry in the decision-making process, but it’s notable that Tolzien was a backup quarterback for McCarthy’s Packers for three seasons.
With all that said, it’d be pretty reckless of the Cowboys to appoint Tolzien as a first-year offensive coordinator. With McCarthy likely coaching for his job in 2023, does he really want a rookie overseeing the offense?
Even if McCarthy gets the final say on play-calls, it seems Dallas (and Tolzien) would be better off becoming the team’s QBs coach after Dallas confirmed the departure of Doug Nussmeier alongside Kellen Moore.
2. Brian Schottenheimer (coaching consultant)
Not many Cowboys fans would endorse Schottenheimer taking over the offensive coordinator reins, but odds are he’s in the mix. He just concluded his first season as a Dallas coaching consultant, which essentially entailed helping Moore and Dan Quinn get ready for upcoming opponents.
Schottenheimer, 49, has vast experience under his belt. In 2021, he served as Jacksonville’s passing game coordinator. He was the Seahawks offensive coordinator the three years prior from 2018-20. The Jaguars’ passing attack was admittedly brutal under Schottenheimer, but that can be attributed to the fact that then-head coach Urban Meyer was a disaster, and Trevor Lawrence was a rookie.
Schottenheimer also had previous ties to Mike McCarthy, as McCarthy’s first NFL coaching gig was as an offensive quality control coach under Brian’s dad, Marty Schottenheimer. As much as Cowboys fans might not want Schottenheimer presiding over the offense, the dots are pretty easy to connect here.
1. Robert Prince (Wide receivers coach)
Prince has the least experience of these three coaches, but his resume speaks for itself. The Cowboys hired Prince before the 2022 season to be their wide receivers coach, and he’s party responsible for CeeDee Lamb becoming one of the league’s best possession receivers this year.
Prince wasn’t given a lot to work with outside of Lamb, but Noah Brown was seemingly always ready to contribute as a pass-catcher when he wasn’t run blocking. Michael Gallup was a disappointment, but are we really going to hold that against Prince? Gallup was clearly limited by his torn ACL.
Prince has Boise State ties with Kellen Moore, so chances are he has a solid understanding of Dallas’ offense. In fact, when Moore left for the NFL, Prince took over as Boise State’s offensive coordinator for two years, so it’s not like he’d be going in blind.
Additionally, Prince has 32 years of coaching experience (14 in the NFL) and has helped 10 of his receivers make the Pro Bowl.
From 2014-2020, Prince worked with Calvin Johnson, Golden Tate, Marvin Jones, and Kenny Golladay. Three of those players made the Pro Bowl under Prince, and Tate made hit in Prince’s first season in Detroit.
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