It feels like yesterday that Kellen Moore emerged as the consensus frontrunner to replace Mike McCarthy as Dallas Cowboys head coach.
While Deion Sanders was the first candidate linked to the vacancy with any sort of legitimacy, that always felt like Jerry Jones was doing Sanders a favor amidst his contract negotiations with Colorado. It seemed early on that the Cowboys had their sights set on Moore.
That was until Brian Schottenheimer crushed his initial interview. While Moore impressed in his sit-down with his former team, Dallas quickly pivoted to Schottenheimer as its top choice. He was named head coach days later and has since put together a quality coaching staff mixed with college blood, proven NFL commodities and rising stars around the league.
Despite being snubbed by the Cowboys, Moore wound up landing a head coaching staff after capping an excellent season as Eagles' offensive coordinator with a Lombardi Trophy. Moore has finalized a deal to become the Saints' new coach.
Moore was among the hottest coaching candidates this cycle, so why exactly the Cowboys, who witnessed his play-calling chops first-hand, go in a different direction?
Cowboys' reason for not hiring Kellen Moore as head coach is what fans thought all along
According to insider Ed Werder of WFAA, the team picked Schottenheimer over Moore "partly because they viewed (Schottenheimer's) personality as more capable of commanding the room in terms of demanding accountability and establishing leadership."
While Moore has a long track record of success calling plays in the NFL, the biggest pushback amongst Cowboys fans throughout the coaching search was his leadership and capacity to command a locker room and get players to buy in.
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Time management and being able to make tough decisions in a fast-moving game and having conviction behind those decisions are required characteristics of a good coach. Having said that, leadership and being an effective communicator are just as important.
It is fair to question if Moore possesses those intangibles.
During his time with the Cowboys both as a player and coach, Moore didn't come across as an assertive personality. Quite the opposite actually. It's impossible to know how he conducts himself behind the scenes, but he comes off reserved and soft-spoken by nature.
It is very possible the Cowboys flagged that during the evaluation process. While Schottenheimer doesn't have Moore's play-calling resume, he has ample more experience and showed in his introductory press conference that he can command a room and establish a culture.
That's not to say Moore can't do either of those things or won't be a good coach, but it does make sense in retrospect why Schottenheimer was the pick.