The Los Angeles Chargers held a press conference on Wednesday to officially introduce Kellen Moore as the team’s new offensive coordinator.
Moore, who spent the last four years in the same role with the Dallas Cowboys, was hired on Monday to replace Joe Lombardi after agreeing to “mutually part ways” with Dallas on Sunday night.
“I love Dallas,” Moore said as he answered questions from the media.
“I’ve been fortunate to have been at one spot for eight years–three years as a player and five years as a coach. I love everything about that place. It’s certainly a very special place to me.”
But just because you love a place does not mean you cannot look for other opportunities.
“As we went through the process, sometimes change can be really good for all of us,” Moore commented. “And I felt like I was in that space. It works for both sides. I think it’s an awesome opportunity for Dallas and an awesome opportunity for me. I’m certainly really, really excited about how this thing all played out.”
Los Angeles moved quickly to hire Moore less than 24 hours after he became unemployed.
“Sunday, we got to the conclusion that it was going to be a great opportunity for both sides to explore and go down different paths,” Moore added.
“It was going to be good for both sides. Once that became an opportunity, I was able to talk to Brandon [Staley] rather quickly and then go through the whole process… It was a really fun process to hear from their perspective. It certainly went rather quickly, but we were able to get it finalized and knocked out rather quickly.”
Moore said he and Staley have stayed in touch since meeting each other through joint practices, and he’s looking forward to working with one of the youngest coaches in the NFL.
“That’s one of the biggest things that gravitated to me. I certainly got to know Brandon a bit through the summer, but when we started digging on this thing, I felt the similarities were very strong. Both of us had coaching dads, moms were teachers. You go through the family situations, and it was just funny how everything felt very similar.
“We started talking about it from a philosophical standpoint; we were hitting on a lot of the same points, a lot of the same approaches. It just felt like there was a really good alignment. Alignment is huge. I’m excited to be able to work with him and be able to build this thing together.”
Moore inherits an offense stacked with talent at all positions, highlighted by rising star quarterback Justin Herbert.
“I’m really, really excited about that,” he said.
“Obviously, the talent speaks for itself, from a premier perspective and [RB] Austin [Ekeler] in the backfield, [RB] Josh [Kelley] coming along, the offensive line has been a huge thing that they’ve developed and done such a great job of the last couple of years — just developing, they have so much young talent up there, and they’ve invested up front.”
“I think that’s huge for a quarterback. Obviously, we’ll talk plenty about Justin, but you have to protect the guy, and certainly, the Chargers have done a phenomenal job of investing in that last two years.”
Still, the Chargers rushing attack has struggled, finishing 30th of 32 teams in 2022. That is where Moore, who coached the league’s seventh-best running game during his time in Dallas, can help immensely.
“It’s something that will take the whole process to go through…” Moore remarked. “There’s a balancing act in the run game, grove calls and calls that you kind of hang your hat on, while also being diverse enough to make adjustments throughout a game and depending on a defense’s looks.”
Fortunately, they have an air attack — led by the 24-year-old Herbert — that ranked third in the league in passing yards that helped pick up some slack.
“Justin, we know the physical talent. He obviously does a tremendous job,” Moore said. “I think it’s been really cool to watch him from a fundamental perspective, as he’s gone from Oregon into the NFL and transitioned and started playing under center — he has done such a phenomenal job of that — and the play-action game, the movement game.”
“We know his ability to throw it down the field. I’m just really, really excited to be able to work with him and, hopefully, help him in some way as he continues to build the career that he is going to have.”
The passing game is more than just Herbert. The Chargers have plenty of playmakers around him in receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams.
“Mike and his ability to make 50-50 plays is phenomenal. You don’t see that around the league very often. What Keenan can do to separate and his route-running and putting him on routes that he’s able to make decisions, he is going to make things happen. Certainly, from a schematic standpoint, you hope to find a way to create those opportunities.”
While Moore’s offense had plenty of success in Dallas, he is not looking to force the Chargers just to run the same scheme.
“That’s just the exciting part of these situations,” Moore said. “It’s building a system around the players. This thing, we’re going to do it together. This isn’t just dropping a playbook down from Dallas and say, ‘You learn this and we’ll do this.'”
“There’s so much good stuff that’s going on here,” he continued. “Certainly, with Justin and all of the guys — Mike, Keenan, we can go on and on. What they’ve built., there’s so much good. I think that we have to make sure that we incorporate that and make sure we don’t lose all of the good that is going on here.”
