NFL insider: Kellen Moore considered ‘a top target’ for Dallas Cowboys coaching job

Who would have ever thought that the quarterback Scott Linehan brought to the Dallas Cowboys from their time together with the Detroit Lions could one day run the show?

To be clear nothing is official yet, and nothing is even reportedly close to being official, but we are starting to see some serious smoke around the idea of Kellen Moore being named the next head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

Thursday marked the third full day in which the Cowboys’ job was posted on Indeed.com (imagine!) and it was a significant one as Dallas formally put in an official request to interview Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.

Moore’s history with the Cowboys is incredibly well-known. A decade (basically) ago Linehan brought him in, he hung out at the bottom of the roster, he inherited the QB2 position in 2016 and after he broke his ankle in training camp in 2016 the first domino fell towards the Dak Prescott era. Another year and a half later Cooper Rush had beaten Moore out for the aforementioned QB2 job and thus began his career with a headset instead of a helmet, something that always felt like his destiny.

Moore served as the Cowboys quarterbacks coach for a single season before taking over as offensive coordinator for four more. The team moved on after 2022 and he spent 2023 with the Los Angeles Chargers before winding up in Philly. He has interviewed for head coaching opportunities many times before, including the one that went to his current boss, Nick Sirianni, but it appears that the one he has with Dallas this weekend could wind up being the one.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport spoke about Dallas placing an official request for Moore and noted that while Deion Sanders has generated a bulk of the headlines relative to the job, Moore should be considered at worst an equal favorite for the job. Maybe even more of one.

“First of all, we’ve spent a lot of time on this show, and there’s been a couple of other shows that have mentioned this… the Deion Sanders component of Cowboys coaching search. And that has obviously generated a lot of the headlines and a lot of the focus.”

“Kellen Moore should be at least in that conversation, probably more. This is someone who is considered to be a top candidate for the Dallas Cowboys. I’m not saying the top candidate. Just certainly someone to watch and discuss and consider moving forward.”

“It’s not just that they know him as a, ‘okay well he’s been in the system there.’ He grew up in the franchise! He was a backup quarterback to Tony Romo and then got injured and then somebody named, oh what’s his name, oh Dak Prescott! Yes! Dak Prescott! Took over and the rest is history.”

“Dak knows him well. They have a great relationship. So yes, they are going to interview him. That is going to be, I believe actually in the, within the next 48 hours.”

“But it’s not like they really need to interview him. They’ve seen him up close. They know how he works. They know what kind of coordinator he would be. They believe they know what kind of head coach he is going to be if he gets the opportunity. This certainly is one to keep an eye on and it makes a lot of sense for all parties on this one.”

It seems notable that Rapoport felt the need to clarify that Moore was at worst on an equal level with Sanders as far as chances for the job. You can see that Moore should be even given “probably more” deference which is really saying something.

Perhaps the most interesting/worrisome thing is how Rapoport noted that the Cowboys don’t even really need to interview Moore. The point is fair and understood in that Dallas obviously knows him, but this sounds like something you say when a decision is already made. He has commanded inferior offenses since leaving. Mike McCarthy commanded an amazing one in the first year that he was gone. Those are fair things to ask questions about for the front office.

Maybe they are. Perhaps this is all just talk. But whatever the case this seems like a significant thing to say and note relative to the Cowboys job.