Saints head coach search about to hit hyperdrive thanks to Super Bowl 59

The New Orleans Saints are the last NFL team remaining that has to fill their head coaching vacancy. Their lack of urgency means the options are limited. It seems they’re already keying in on their priority target. 

According to NFL.com’s Iam Rapoport, the Saints are planning to conduct an in-person interview in Philadelphia with Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore as early as Monday. 

The Eagles will be busy preparing for Super Bowl 59, but the Saints plan to utilize the week in between championship Sunday and the Super Bowl to lock down their head coach. That said, it’s an interesting interview.

I’m not sure if Jerry Jones showing interest in Moore has something to do with it, but the Saints showing interest in Moore as the head coach is a bit odd. Moore has had a decent career as an offensive coordinator, but I feel like as a first job, the Saints doesn’t seem like an ideal starting spot. 

I think Moore would have been better off in Dallas first because of his familiarity with the team. But he’s been an offensive coordinator since 2019 and hasn’t really been as good as Joe Brady or Ben Johnson.

The Saints are getting aggressive in their head coaching search but have scraps left to choose from

Part of why the Saints may be really interested in Moore is because the Eagles have been successful this season offensively. There’s a caveat though. The Eagles had one Saquon Barkley. That’s less on what Moore has been able to do and more on having an elite running back making crazy plays. 

The problem is, had the Saints not waited until the last second to anchor down their coach, they could have had better options. At this point, I don’t see why they wouldn’t bring Darren Rizzi back. He wasn’t horrible as an interim coach. He was able to bring a team back from the dead and even Alvin Kamara is co-signing to remove the interim tag off of Rizzi. That feels like a much better move than bringing on Moore. 

It doesn’t help either that the Washington Commanders made the Eagles offense look much better than it probably is. The offense is one dimensional and that might get exposed in the Super Bowl. 

Moore has to improve as a play caller if the Eagles want to win the Super Bowl. He’ll also have to be a better play caller if he wants to land the New Orleans job. Of course, we'll have to see if he does land the job, with former Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy, Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, and New York Giants offensive coordinator looming. Plus, there is the wild card of Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, if he wants a head coaching job.