Kellen Moore may already regret joining Eagles after reported turmoil
By Jerry Trotta
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Dallas Cowboys fans couldn't help but roll their eyes after Brian Schottenheimer was promoted to offensive coordinator last year. While it was already confirmed that Mike McCarthy would call plays, the fan base was hoping the Cowboys would look externally for Kellen Moore's replacement.
When all was said and done, McCarthy and Schottenheimer made Cowboys fans eat crow. Dak Prescott led the NFL with 36 passing touchdowns and finished second in MVP voting, while CeeDee Lamb led the league in catches and targets and ranked second in receiving yards.
It took a month for the offense to find a rhythm, but Dallas clearly does not miss Moore pulling the offensive strings. The Cowboys will see plenty of Moore in 2024 after he was hired as the Eagles' offensive coordiantor following a one-year stint with the LA Chargers.
Moore has no shortage of talent to work with in Philly, but we saw last season during the Eagles' collapse late in the year that the locker room is fragile. It would appear that disconnect hasn't been resolved, and it just so happens to involve head coach Nick Sirianni and quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Former Cowboys OC Kellen Moore could live to regret joining Eagles
Dianna Russini of The Athletic described Sirianni and Hurts' relationship as a "work-in progress." (subscription required). That is music to the ears of Cowboys fans after the Eagles lost six of their final seven games, including the first round of the playoffs, after starting the year 10-1.
"We’ve seen Jalen Hurts on the sideline with Nick Sirianni, and they were not going at one another," Russini writes. "But there is definitely a difference in personality. The way I would describe it: The relationship is still a work in progress. Last year there was some disconnect between them, due to their personalities. Nick, we’ve seen, is a very emotional guy. Jalen is a very private guy....You don’t all have to be the same, but you do have to be on the same page when it comes to what you want to do on offense."
Hurts and Sirianni both downplayed their reported disconnect to the media (what else were they going to do?), but this is anything but ideal for Moore, who's tasked with being the cure-all for an offense that fell apart in the final two months of the season and fumbled away the NFC East.
That task is hard enough and now Moore must navigate a quarterback and head coach who don't seem to be overly fond of each other.
It's notable, too, that Hurts has already put his foot down with Moore's offense. Hurts revealed that 95% of Moore's system is new and that he eventually wants it "to be mine and have it my own way." Surely that won't lead to a bumping of heads throughout the course of an 18-week season.
The former Cowboys assistant is a brilliant offensive mind, but it's fair to ponder if he's capable of overcoming locker room turmoil. He never had to deal with that in four years as Dallas' play-caller. Maybe he ends up enjoying life in Philly, but there's a small part of us that thinks he may come to regret taking the job.
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