It was a long wait, but the New Orleans Saints have their next head coach: Kellen Moore.
The Saints finalized terms of the deal with the former offensive coordinator Tuesday, less than 48 hours after his Eagles offense put up 40 points in a Super Bowl victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. The specifics of the contract were not disclosed. The news was officially announced Tuesday afternoon.
"I am excited to join the New Orleans Saints and deeply appreciate the faith that Mrs. Benson and the entire Saints organization have placed in me," Moore said in a news release. "I look forward to embracing the challenges ahead and am eager to get started. I would also like to thank the Philadelphia Eagles for an incredible 2024 season. I'm excited to begin this new chapter."
Moore has now become the youngest active head coach at 36 years old, but his football experience tells a different story. Moore grew up around the game, the son of a prominent high school coach, and then went on to start 53 games for Boise State, winning 50 of them to set an NCAA record for QB wins that he still holds. Moore was undrafted in 2012, but latched on with the Lions as a UDFA and played six seasons as a quarterback split between Detroit and the Cowboys. Moore immediately went into coaching, going from a teammate of Dak Prescott's in 2016 to his quarterbacks coach in 2017. Moore stuck in that role for four seasons across multiple coaching staffs, but was replaced in 2023. He spent a year with the Chargers as the OC on Brandon Staley's staff but got the axe after that season along with the rest of the group. His landing spot in Philly resulted in a run to the Super Bowl behind a dominant OL, a record-setting Saquon Barkley and across from a dominant Vic Fangio defense.
The move marks the seventh and final head coach hiring across the NFL, with the other six teams moving quickly to get their new coaches in-house prior to the conference championship games. The Saints met with Moore in person prior to the NFC Championship, but were unable to communicate with him again until this week. Those other jobs include:
- Patriots: Mike Vrabel
- Jets: Aaron Glenn
- Raiders: Pete Carroll
- Jaguars: Liam Coen
- Bears: Ben Johnson
- Cowboys: Brian Schottenheimer
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The Saints cast a wide net in their interviews, speaking virtually with Glenn and Bills OC Joe Brady, though neither took an in-person interview. The Saints were also linked to Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury and former Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy, though neither was interviewed in person.
New Orleans had in-person interviews with Giants OC Mike Kafka and Dolphins DC Anthony Weaver, two popular names who will likely be considered in coaching searches going forward. Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi was also interviewed in the process, but will be passed over again. Rizzi also interviewed before the Saints hired Dennis Allen in 2022.
Rizzi's future will join that of other coordinators and position coaches in terms of question marks. The highly-respected special teams coordinator could very likely depart, with Denver and a spot on Sean Payton's staff. The Broncos fired their offensive coordinator earlier this year.
"At the start of the interview process, it was important to find a head coach who was the right fit for the New Orleans Saints organization," said team owner Gayle Benson in a news release. "Through the search process, it became clear that Kellen is the right person to help us re-establish a winning program and culture that our fans are accustomed to and have come to expect. I would also like to thank Darren Rizzi for his service as interim coach and leading our team this past season. I am truly grateful to him."
The potential is likely for mostly or completely new staff to be taking over for the Saints next year, something we haven't truly seen even since Payton's departure after the 2021 season. Moore's next big decisions will be offensive and defensive coordinators, then the staff down the line. Two names that have been linked to Moore's potential staff include current Eagles QBs coach Doug Nussmeier and 49ers assistant head coach Brandon Staley. Nussmeier is a former Saints quarterback whose son happens to start for LSU. There's clearly a strong connection there, considering the Eagles' offensive success this year. Moore has already stated that he would plan to continue calling plays even in a head coaching role. Staley is different sort of connection, with Moore being hired as OC to the former Chargers head coach's staff for the 2023 season. Staley would be a potential defensive coordinator who brings some head coaching insight and also happens to be a branch off the Vic Fangio defensive tree, the current Eagles DC.
Significant questions will have to be answered at quarterback as well, with Derek Carr's contract due to count $51 million against the 2025 cap, and the Saints also projected to be $50 million over. The team has to either decide to commit to more time with Carr as the starter or to bite the bullet and reset. The former would likely include a restructure to ease the cap burden this year, making things simpler. The latter would mean a significant cap charge to cover. Ripping off the band-aid would be significantly more complicated.
However it looks, Moore's task will be returning the Saints to the ranks of contending teams after four consecutive postseason misses. The last time the Saints missed the playoffs for five consecutive seasons was 2000-'05, immediately preceding the Sean Payton era.