After interviewing several candidates over a two-week period in what seemed to be a slow process, the LA Chargers got a new offensive coordinator candidate on Sunday and quickly moved to make the hire.
Less than 24 hours after it was reported that Kellen Moore and the Dallas Cowboys agreed to part ways, Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported that the Chargers are expected to hire Moore as the team's offensive coordinator, replacing Joe Lombardi. Moore spent four seasons as Dallas' offensive coordinator and is turning over full offensive control to Mike McCarthy.
Most of the Chargers fanbase seems to like the move but there are fans who do not seem to be happy with the move. Moore isn't going to suddenly give the Chargers a picture-perfect offense, but there are reasons to love this hire.
3 reasons why Chargers fans should love the Kellen Moore hire:
1. Kellen Moore has experience as a play-caller
Most of the candidates that the LA Chargers interviewed to this point did not have experience as play-callers. Every offensive coach has to get a start somewhere and it looked like the Bolts were going to give one of the offensive minds from the McVay tree a shot.
While that could have ended well, there is also a lot of variance in bringing in a first-time play-caller. There is a big difference between being a strong offensive mind and being a strong offensive mind that can call plays.
Moore was by far the most experienced candidate that emerged for the Chargers. With a defensive-minded head coach in Brandon Staley leading the way, the Bolts needed someone with experience. Having a first-time play-caller is a lot harder when the head coach isn't an offensive mind to lean on.
2. Kellen Moore has piloted a top offense several times
There are some similarities between Kellen Moore and Joe Lombardi that fans might worry about (one of which we will break down as the final reason to love this hire). One similarity is that the fact that Lombardi also had experience as a play-caller before coming to the Chargers.
This might seem like a safe hire by the Chargers to some. Instead of poaching a bright young offensive mind, the Bolts went with the bigger name that has prior experience like they did with Lombardi. While those concerns are justified with how bad the offense looked last season, this is a completely different situation.
Lombardi stunk up the joint when he was the offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions. The offense took a dip and there were plenty of upset Lions fans that should have warned us. If there are upset Cowboys fans (there always are) then it is not justified as Moore certainly did his job.
Moore has piloted the Cowboys to have a top offense in the league several times, including being the no. 1 offense in the sport in 2021. Sure, the team has a solid offensive line and good weapons, but it also has a quarterback who is a slightly better version of Kirk Cousins. Justin Herbert is elite.
Plus, it is not like the Chargers don't have similar weapons on offense. They have two top receivers (when healthy), an above-average offensive line (when healthy) and the biggest endzone finder in the league. The talent is close enough and the improvement from Dak to Herbert pushes the Bolts over the edge.
Heck, Moore piloted Cooper Rush of all people to play solid football this past season. That right there should have shown his value. Think Lombardi ever would have done that with Chase Daniel?
3. The slight similarities to Joe Lombardi's offense is a good thing for the Chargers
Joe Lombardi and Kellen Moore do not call the exact same offense. If anything, Moore is a lot more versatile in what he calls as the Cowboys never truly leaned into one offensive style while he was the team's offensive coordinator.
But the barebones of the two offenses are at least somewhat similar and there is good and bad that come with it. Assuming that Moore is just going to copy and paste what he did in Dallas and do it with the Chargers is a bit silly, as hopefully he and the Chargers coaching staff can limit some of the bad similarities with Lombardi.
There were parts of Lombardi's offense that worked, which is why the team was a top-five offense in 2021. However, his inability to adjust and lean into the things that were working at the time is what ultimately did him in.
Moore can take some of those successful barebones and expand on them. This is important for Justin Herbert and the offense, which is now welcoming its third offensive coordinator in four years. You don't want Herbert having to learn a completely new offense in his fourth year in the league. Having some similarities is a good thing.
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Whether or not Moore will be successful will be based on how he takes this foundation and builds upon it and with Dallas' offensive success as of late, Chargers fans should be optimistic that he can indeed do that.