Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore's surprise departure from Dallas has led him to Los Angeles.
Moore is joining the Chargers as their new OC, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported Monday, per sources. Moore succeeds Joe Lombardi, who was fired by the Chargers after two seasons with the club.
The team has since announced the news.
Moore will shift from working with Dak Prescott to Justin Herbert, which shouldn't result in a drop-off in quarterback ability and may prove to be a rare upgrade for a coordinator changing jobs at the end of January. Moore is certainly deserving of the opportunity, and Los Angeles' urgency to snap him up should stand as proof of the ascending play-caller's reputation in league circles.
Moore's move to the Chargers will be the first since he joined the Cowboys as a player in 2015. Shortly after retiring in 2018, the former quarterback joined Dallas' staff as a quarterbacks coach and quickly rose to offensive coordinator under Jason Garrett, working with the veteran coach to deliver the NFL's top-ranked offense in 2019. Unfortunately, their offensive success wasn't enough to get the Cowboys into the postseason, resulting in Garrett's departure.
Mike McCarthy was impressed enough to keep Moore on his new staff when McCarthy replaced Garrett in 2020. Moore rewarded his new head coach, overseeing an offense that ranked 14th in 2020 despite losing Prescott after five games, and then leapt up to the No. 1 spot in 2021 with Prescott back in the lineup.
Moore's creativity quickly put him on the radar of the rest of the NFL, but Dallas fell out of the top 10 in total yards per game in 2022. Moore's best play-calling performances came in key moments throughout much of 2022, including Dallas' Super Wild Card Weekend triumph over Tampa Bay, in which Moore's masterful decisions produced two perfectly timed touchdowns early in an eventual blowout win.
Dallas entered 2022 with a noticeable lack of weapons at receiver, but Moore still managed to conduct an offense that utilized lesser-known talents like Tony Pollard and Noah Brown in 2022. Ultimately, McCarthy's Cowboys decided it would be best to move on from the offensive partnership, leaving Moore to seek employment elsewhere.
He'll find it in Inglewood, where the Chargers are looking to take the next step toward a Lombardi Trophy with a quarterback who has confirmed his standing as one of the most promising, young talents of the NFL's future generation of star signal-callers. Herbert finished second in passing yards behind only Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes, powering a ninth-place finish for the Chargers' offense in 2022, but also leaving room for improvement as a unit. Chargers head coach Brandon Staley didn't waste time moving on from offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi following Los Angeles' Super Wild Card Weekend collapse, and he'll likely be pleased to replace Lombardi with a bright mind who should elevate Los Angeles' offense in 2023.
