The Eagles have turned to their biggest rival to fill their offensive coordinator position.
Kellen Moore, who coached the Cowboys to three top-six offensive finishes in four years in Dallas, will be the Eagles' new offensive coordinator, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Saturday night.
Moore replaced Brian Johnson, who was fired after three years with the Eagles, as offensive coordinator last season. Moore will be the Eagles' third offensive coordinator in three years.
Moore spent last year with the Chargers as an OC under Brandon Staley, who was fired last month and replaced by former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh.
Nick Sirianni said Wednesday that whoever he appoints as offensive coordinator will bring their own scheme and structure rather than dictating plays within Sirianni's offense.
“We're bringing in someone who will bring new ideas and do the things he's done in the past,” he said Wednesday. “It would be crazy not to add some of the things we've done in the past here too. …
“We're working on getting the best guy for the job and a guy who has a vision, a guy who's going to call the plays, a guy who's going to be able to coach a quarterback. …So it's just a matter of finding the right guy and then we'll decide where that goes. But I’m hiring him to do a job and run the offense.”
The Eagles finished seventh in the NFL last season, but the offense became boring and predictable as the year progressed. They scored fewer than 20 points in five of their last seven games, and the Eagles scored just nine points in their wild-card loss in Tampa.
Moore, 35, spent parts of six seasons as a backup quarterback with the Lions (2012-14) and Cowboys (2015-17) before beginning his coaching career as the Cowboys' quarterbacks coach in 2018. After one year, he was promoted to offensive coordinator and held that position from 2019 to 2022.
The Cowboys finished 6th, 17th, 1st and 4th on offense in Moore's four years, the first year under Jason Garrett and three under Mike McCarthy. Curiously, both Johnson and Moore coached Dak Prescott-Johnson at Mississippi State and Moore coached at the Cowboys.
After losing 19-12 to the 49ers in a conference semifinal game in Santa Clara last year, the Cowboys and Moore parted ways. He was signed by the Chargers a day later and in his only season in LA, the Chargers went 5-12 and ranked 21st in offense.
Kellen was one of only three known candidates for the position. Former Cards head coach Kliff Kingsbury and Texans quarterbacks coach Jerrod Johnson were also interviewed. All three were great college quarterbacks.
That shows how important that attitude is to Jalen Hurts, whose performance declined under Johnson, who was coached by Hurts' father in high school.
“It's really important that these two people work hand in hand to make sure we get back to where we need to be,” Sirianni said.
During Moore's four years as offensive coordinator and game manager in Dallas, the Cowboys averaged 27.7 points per game – the second-highest point total in the NFL behind the Chiefs' 28.8. During his five years in Dallas as QBs coach or OC, they had the fourth-most passing yards in the NFL with 256 per game.
Moore's only NFL playing time came with the Cowboys at the end of the 2015 season.
With Tony Romo injured and Brandon Weeden and Matt Cassel struggling, Moore played in the final three games, starting two and throwing four touchdowns and six interceptions against the Jets, Bills and Washington. In his final NFL appearance, he threw for 435 yards with three touchdowns against Washington. Moore is the first head coach or offensive or defensive coordinator in Eagles history to either play or coach with the Cowboys before joining the Eagles.