The Chargers agreed to terms with Kellen Moore to become their next offensive coordinator.
To get familiar with the new play-caller, here are some key things to know about Moore.
Former college and NFL quarterback
Moore is best known for his decorated collegiate career as the quarterback of Boise State, where he went 50-3 as the starter, finished in the top 10 of Heisman Trophy voting in three different seasons and captured two WAC Offensive Player of the Year awards and one Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year award.
Signed as an undrafted free agent by Lions in 2012, Moore went on to spend three seasons with Detroit. In 2015, Moore was picked up by the Cowboys. He spent an additional three seasons in Dallas, appearing in just three total games when replacing an injured Tony Romo (collarbone) with four touchdown passes and six interceptions.
Started coaching career as quarterbacks coach
After the Cowboys released Moore in 2017, he decided to retire from playing in the NFL. But he wasn’t away from the game that long, as Dallas’ former head coach Jason Garrett brought on Moore to be their quarterbacks coach.
Moore spent five of his six seasons in the league under former Cowboys offensive coordinator Scott Linehan, dating back to when both began working together with the Lions in 2012.
So the experience with the quarterback position, familiarity with the offense and Moore’s family ties in coaching led to him landing the gig. His father, Tom, won four state championships and 21 league titles as head coach at Prosser High School in Washington.
Short lived stint
A year after overseeing the Cowboys’ quarterbacks, Moore was promoted to their offensive coordinator position. Moore replaced Scott Linehan, who was fired after Dallas’ playoff loss to the Rams.
“He’s special,” Dak Prescott said after Moore was hired as OC. “He knows a lot about the game, just the way he sees the game, the way he’s ahead of the game. He can bring a lot to us, a lot of creativity.”
The numbers don't lie
The Cowboys were very efficient with Moore overseeing the offense, finishing top 10 in scoring for three of his four years with the role. In addition, Dallas finished No. 1 in yards twice.
Moore played an important role in helping Dak Prescott return from his horrific 2020 leg injury to be one of the league’s most productive passers just a year later, breaking the Cowboys’ single-season touchdown record, previously held by Tony Romo, who had 36.
This season when Prescott fractured his thumb, which forced him to miss five games, his backup, Cooper Rush, went on to post a 4-1 record as a starter, with notable wins over the Bengals and Giants.
What does this mean for the Chargers?
It seemed like the stars were aligning for Zac Robinson to be the Chargers’ newest offensive coordinator, but they made a swift move to hire Moore, as he had only 12 hours removed from parting ways with the Cowboys. Of course, this speaks to how much Moore had been on Los Angeles’ radar.
Brandon Staley made it seem that he was going to bring in someone well-versed in the Sean McVay/Kyle Shanahan style of offense for the team’s next offensive coordinator because that’s the system he “believed in.” And all of the candidates being interviewed pointed in that direction. But Moore’s experience in that role and proven track record factored in the change of thought.
Moore should boost the Chargers’ offense schematically.
The middle to deep passing game should improve. Since Moore became OC, the Cowboys had the seventh-highest average depth of target in the NFL (8.3 air yards per attempt).
On the move is when Justin Herbert is at his best. And Moore utilized a lot of quarterback movement. In 2019, 2021, 2022, Dak Prescott had the ninth-most dropbacks where he was rolling right or left or scrambling right or left to throw.
In addition, Dallas implemented Tony Pollard heavily in the passing game, which should benefit Austin Ekeler. Pollard had a 21.8% target share when on the field for receiving snaps, which ranks 23rd among 116 running backs from 2019 to 2022.
There are three specific areas where Los Angeles’ offense struggled this season that should improve under Moore: Red zone, second-half scoring and rushing.
Cowboys rankings in red zone touchdown percentage, second-half scoring and rushing under Moore:
2022 – 1st / 1st / 9th
2021 – 6th / 4th / 9th
2020 – 29th / 19th / 17th (Prescott played five games)
2019 – 16th / 4th / 4th
The bottom line is that the Chargers got an extremely sharp offensive mind with experience in that position. Moore has shown how to maximize his quarterbacks and adapt well to his personnel. The next thing in order should be to hire a quarterbacks coach and run game coordinator.
