Eagles assistant coach emerges as Saints head coaching candidate originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Saints have requested permission from the Eagles to interview offensive coordinator and play caller Kellen Moore for their head coaching vacancy.
The news was first reported Monday afternoon by NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport.
Moore replaced Brian Johnson, who held the job for one year after replacing Shane Steichen when he became head coach of the Colts after the 2022 season.
The Eagles this year finished eighth in the NFL with 367 yards per game, seventh with 27.1 points per game, second with 179 rushing yards per game and first in time of possession at 32:23. They tied a franchise record with 14 wins and face the Packers in a wild-card round game Sunday at the Linc.
According to NFL rules, assistant coaches on teams that play in the wild-card round are not allowed to interview for head coaching jobs until three days after their team plays. So that would be a week from Wednesday for Moore.
Moore retired from the NFL as a player after the 2017 season and immediately joined the Cowboys coaching staff, rising from quarterbacks coach in 2018 to offensive coordinator from 2019 through 2022. He served in the same role last year with the Chargers before joining Nick Sirianni’s Eagles staff this year.
His offenses have ranked in the top 10 in scoring in four of his six years as an offensive coordinator.
Moore’s name often comes up this time of year. He interviewed with the Vikings for their head coaching vacancy after the 2021 season and with the Chargers last offseason.
Jane Slater of NFL Network reported that the Saints are also planning to interview Broncos senior personnel executive and long-time Stanford coach David Shaw, whose first NFL job was as an offensive quality control coach on Ray Rhodes’ Eagles staff in 1997.
If the Eagles lose Moore, it would mean Jalen Hurts would have his fifth play caller in six NFL seasons.
Internal candidates to replace Moore if he leaves would include quarterbacks coach Doug Nussmeier, running backs coach Jemal Singleton and assistant head coach and passing game coordinator Kevin Patullo.
Not only did Moore run an offense that produced the ninth 2,000-yard rusher in NFL history, his offense brought out the best in Hurts, who since Week 5 has a 114.0 passer rating – 3rd-highest in the league behind Lamar Jackson and Jared Goff – with 14 touchdowns and one interception. Only Nick Foles in 2013 has had a higher passer rating in Eagles history over an 11-game span.
“Everybody has a different flavor of stuff, and coach Kellen will say that himself,” Hurts said recently. “But it’s about how you teach it, how you’re coaching certain things, how you run it, how you execute it.
“He’s brought a unique approach. He’s brought some new visions for us, and I think it’s helped us. I think he’s definitely added a dimension for us (with) who he is and his philosophy of being multiple.”
The Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen after the Saints got off to a 2-7 start. They went 3-5 the rest of the season under interim coach Dennis Rizzi, who is also expected to be a candidate for the head coaching job.
This is the Saints’ fourth straight year out of the playoffs, something that last happened from 2001 through 2005.
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