Getty Images Kellen Moore
The Philadelphia Eagles are hiring Kellen Moore as offensive coordinator, according to multiple reports.
In Moore, the Eagles are adding an experienced play-caller who has worked with some of the league’s top quarterbacks to Nick Sirianni‘s coaching staff.
“He’s a very quarterback-friendly coach,” an NFL defensive coach who has coached against Moore on several occasions tells heavy, on the condition of anonymity to speak freely about another team.
Moore, 35, arrives in Philadelphia after spending one season as the Chargers’ offensive coordinator, working alongside quarterback Justin Herbert after a five-year stint with the Dallas Cowboys where he served as Dak Prescott‘s quarterbacks coach in 2018 before calling plays for three seasons as offensive coordinator.
“Kellen fits Jalen Hurts‘ skill-set really well,” the coach explained. “And, maybe more importantly, will know how to get the most out of Philly’s skill-players, because it’s a very similar collection of talent to what he had in Dallas.”
Rejuvenating Hurts’ career-trajectory, and finding the right coach to oversee the next step in the 25-year-old quarterback’s development was clearly a top priority for general manager Howie Roseman, Sirianni, and the Eagles.
Hurts and the Eagles’ offense never quite found a rhythm or identity in 2023, taking a step back offensively, with the quarterback throwing a career-high 15 interceptions and tumbled to the league’s seventh-ranked scoring offense, from third the year prior, en-route to a Super Bowl.
The Eagles’ collapse on offense was a major reason Philadelphia lost five of its final six regular season games, before getting ousted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in blowout fashion in the NFC Wild Card round.
Not everyone inside the league, though, is convinced that Moore will cure what ailed Hurts and the Eagles’ offense last season.
“If you look at just last season,” an offensive assistant tells Heavy. “The Cowboys got better with him gone, and the Chargers got worse with him calling plays. But, I’ve heard that he’s a good guy, and players like him.”
Moore now joins newly hired Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio adding a wealth of experience to Sirianni’s staff, with a pivotal 2024 campaign in terms of the head coach’s job security looming.
Inside Kellen Moore’s Offense
The Eagles’ offense could potentially look dramatically different in 2024 than it has since Sirianni’s arrival.
That’s because Kellen Moore’s system is predicated on pre-snap motion and has a track record of relying a bit heavier on the passing game. Last season, the Chargers dialed up 431 designed runs and asked the quarterback to drop back 632 times. By comparison, the Eagles ran the ball on 47 percent of snaps in 2023.
Likewise, during Moore’s time in Dallas, the Cowboys frequently pushed the ball downfield, which could be a harbinger of more explosive plays to come in the Eagles’ passing game for A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith next season.
Los Angeles finished the 2023 campaign ranked 25th in rushing, 13th in passing — even with Herbert sidelined for four games, and averaged 20.4 points per game.
Nick Sirianni Addresses Role with Eagles
In hiring Fangio and Moore, it is now obvious that adding experience in the coordinator roles was critical to the Eagles bringing Sirianni back, despite a disappointing finish in 2023.
Prior to naming his top assistants, Sirianni got candid about his role moving forward.
“I guess it would be very similar to what’s going on right now,” Sirianni told reporters on January 24. “Does that mean I’ll sit more into defensive meetings at times? Maybe. Instead of always being in an offensive meeting. Maybe I go to a defensive meeting here and there. But my job is to be the head coach of the team, not the head coach of the offense, not the head coach of the defense, not the head coach of the special teams, but be the head coach of the football team.
“So that’s building the culture. That’s making sure the culture is working with our five core values, are taking every day at a time. We’re not coming up with new core values. We may shuffle where things are that are important and the most important, but that’s diving into that, building the culture, having a relationship with the guys on the football team because I know when I have that connection with the guys on the football team, that’s when the culture is working and working at a high level, and that’s where our connection with the players and their connection with each other works well, too.”
Next season, Sirianni now has two coordinators with a wealth of play-calling experience, on both sides of the ball. The Eagles are betting big that their influence will lead to significantly improved results than last season’s disappointment.