The Cowboys took a chance this Spring.
First, they fired the man who'd been their offensive coordinator since 2015, and had been involved with their offense since 2014. Then, they hired Kellen Moore as the new offensive coordinator. An unproven, untested coach who had only spent one year as the team's quarterbacks coach the season prior.
Kellen Moore has long been called a “future coach” in the NFL, heralded for his football IQ and ability to breakdown film and defensive schemes. Still, though, the question can be asked if they made this move too early into his coaching career.
Though they are far from having played a game in 2019, Kellen Moore is receiving rave reviews during his tenure as Cowboys offensive coordinator already. And, according to his former teammate Dan Orlovsky, Cowboys fans should be very excited to see what a Kellen Moore-coached offense looks like.
Orlovsky joined ESPN's Mina Kimes' podcast (highly recommend, by the way) and was asked about what we can expect from the Dak Prescott and Kellen Moore marriage going forward. What Orlovsky said made me want to run through the bus I was commuting in on in excitement, to be honest.
“This is going to be an offense that is constantly moving where Dak is throwing the ball from…I also expect to see some really unique pre-snap motions…always constantly changing the dress-up of it” – Dan Orlovsky
These are the aspects of modern offense that Cowboys fans have been screaming for the past two seasons. While offenses like the Chiefs and the Rams make it look easy most Sunday's, everything the Cowboys do offensively always feels so difficult. Like they are slopping through the mud or running through quick-sand at times.
It sounds, and seems, like Kellen Moore will do everything he can as a play-designer to make things easier on Prescott and the offense as a whole going forward. By “dressing up” their usual play calls with creativity pre-snap, the Cowboys offense could reach new heights in 2019.
The best laid plans of Mice and Men often go awry, of course, but it is nonetheless exciting to consistently hear and read such praise/expectations for Kellen Moore from smart people around the NFL.
The Cowboys took a risk in hiring Kellen Moore as such a young coordinator, but I expect this risk to pay dividends rather quickly for their offense.
