Jerry Jones has lined up his next head coach interview. The latest name Jones is looking at as a potential replacement for Mike McCarthy shouldn’t be a surprise to Dallas Cowboys fans.
He loves familiarity and him officially requesting to interview Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore just makes too much sense, from a fit standpoint. But in terms of nabbing a good replacement, it reeks of desperation.
It could be a good pickup for Dallas, but it’s also risky. Moore has been a decent offensive coordinator with Dallas, the Los Angeles Chargers and now Philadelphia. That said, his offenses haven’t been like Ben Johnson, who’s a top tier candidate in this year’s coaching carousel.
Which makes you wonder what Jones’ motive is. According to a Yahoo Sports story, he doesn’t want to risk missing out on Moore like he did with Dan Quinn. And before then, Sean Payton.
It’s a reasonable thought process. But that also means he’s equating Moore’s potential to that of Quinn’s and Payton’s. And that I don’t agree with.
Jerry Jones taking a gamble in hiring Kellen Moore as the team’s next coach is way too risky, even for Jones
This feels very forced. And the fact that he officially requested the interview per Ian Rapoport, it feels like Jones maybe has no other option. Deion Sanders seemingly closed that door – though not officially.
Leslie Frazier and Robert Saleh have also surfaced as potential interview candidates as well. Saleh feels like the smartest and even the safest move. For one, he would come in and almost instantly improve a defense that took a hit after Quinn’s departure.
Saleh’s biggest problem in New York was winning and that was loosely tied to the quarterback situation. He will inherit a good offense that with the right coordinator, could thrive like it did with McCarthy.
But if Saleh passes on the job and Moore is the next one up, the pressure is on. He won’t have any excuses to not succeed. Especially because he’s probably more familiar with this offense than even McCarthy was.
It’s a lot to assume Moore is on track to be another former Cowboys assistant to have success as a head coach. Moore has led a top 10 offense every year other than 2020 with the Dallas Cowboys and 2023 with the Los Angeles Chargers.
That’s a good sign that he can lead an offense. But there’s more to leading an NFL team than using your scheme expertise. Can Moore lead the locker room like the Cowboys need? And more importantly, how is he going to handle dealing with Jones?
Jones doesn’t have a lot of options which is probably why Moore has worked his way onto the list. That and maybe he’s the only person that can put up with Jones as an owner. Jones has regressed to his old ways if he hires Moore. It comes with the risk that the Cowboys struggle more than they succeed.