Eagles officially hire Kellen Moore, ‘an incredibly smart football coach’

The Eagles officially named Kellen Moore as their offensive coordinator on Monday, finalizing a move that was first reported a week ago.

The former Los Angeles Chargers and Dallas Cowboys coach will replace Brian Johnson, who was fired last month after just one season directing the Eagles offense.

Moore spent four years as the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator from 2019-22 and held the same job with the Chargers this season. The 34-year-old is considered one of the top young play-callers in the NFL. Dallas ranked No. 1 in total yards in 2019 and 2021 under Moore, who joined the Cowboys staff as a quarterbacks coach in 2018 before quickly being promoted to offensive coordinator.

“Kellen has shown a tremendous ability to lead an offense at every level of the sport while gaining the trust and respect of his players and teammates,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said in a statement released by the team. “He is an incredibly smart football coach whose depth of knowledge of the game has helped him become a talented play-caller in this league.”

Moore, a former Boise State quarterback, has developed a reputation for bringing a modern twist on a West Coast offense that heavily features pre-snap motion and aggressive route concepts. He also has found ways to incorporate the short passing game effectively, sometimes at the expense of a consistent running game.

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott had a career year under Moore in 2021, finishing the season with 4,449 passing yards on a 68.8% completion rate while throwing 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Prescott hit his career-high in passing attempts twice with Moore, with 596 attempts in 2019 and 2021.

» READ MORE: Three personnel needs for rebuilding the Eagles defense under Vic Fangio

Dallas receiver CeeDee Lamb told The Inquirer last week that the Eagles receiving corps will enjoy playing for Moore because of his pass-heavy tendencies.

“Should be very fun,” Lamb said. “You’re going to have a lot of options, obviously. Your receivers are going to love it because, obviously, it’s more passes.”

Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson added, “I think there’s a lot of plays to be made. I think he puts the guys in the right spot where they need to be and puts it in their hands. I think that’s something that’s important when calling plays and creating that offensive scheme.”

The Chargers offense wasn’t as productive in Moore’s lone season. It ranked 18th in yards and 21st in scoring offense, although injuries factored into the struggles that led to head coach Brandon Staley being fired during the season.

Before hiring Jim Harbaugh as their head coach, the Chargers blocked Moore from interviewing for coordinator positions elsewhere in part because he was being considered for the head coaching job. Harbaugh reportedly is expected to hire former Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman to replace Moore.

With Moore’s arrival now official, he and Sirianni will be tasked with filling out the rest of the offensive staff and beginning the merging of Moore’s system with the things that have worked for the Eagles offense in the past. According to an ESPN report, former Chargers quarterbacks coach Doug Nussmeier is expected to follow Moore to fill the same job with the Eagles. Also, offensive line coach and running game coordinator Jeff Stoutland is remaining on staff.

During his year-end news conference, Sirianni said the new offensive coordinator would be tasked with bringing “new ideas” to an offense that he characterized as “stale.” The Eagles sputtered in the second half of the season, going 1-6 in their final seven games with uneven performances from the offensive side.

» READ MORE: Is Jalen Hurts the next Patrick Mahomes or the next Lamar Jackson for the Eagles?

Opposing defenses eventually caught up to Sirianni’s scheme in the 2023-24 season with an uptick in blitzes and coverages with two deep safeties. After ranking third in total offense and scoring offense in 2022, the Eagles finished this season seventh and eighth, respectively. They also committed 18 turnovers after having just 10 the season before.

“We got a little bit stale on offense by the end of the year,” Sirianni said. “And these ideas and this new person coming in is meant to take away the staleness and add the value of what they’re adding to the offense.”

“We just need to bring some ideas in from the outside,” he added. “We need to bring a guy in with new ideas that’s not part of this family of coaches. I think that’s an important thing.”

Jeff McLane and Olivia Reiner contributed to this article.