FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys are delighted with their hire of first-time head coach Brian Schottenheimer. But they came this-close to hiring another guy with familiarity here inside The Star ...
And now Kellen Moore is dealing with "nightmare'' predictions at his new job.
The Jerry Jones-led offseason search for a replacement for Mike McCarthy was not a wide-net far-reaching one. It largely focused on Schottenheimer (who was McCarthy's offensive coordinator) and Moore (who had the same job here before Schotty).
Moore jumped/was pushed two years ago and worked with the Chargers in 2023 ... and Schotty worked here with Dak Prescott as the QB finished second in NFL MVP voting.
Then in 2024, the Philadelphia Eagles brought on Moore. ... and that worked out in the best conceivable way.
The former Dallas offensive coordinator helped unleash running back Saquon Barkley last season, and guided quarterback Jalen Hurts to an MVP in Philly's dominance of the Kansas City Chiefs in last February's Super Bowl LIX.
As his reward, Kellen interviewed here but then eventually landed the head coaching job with the New Orleans Saints. (Ironically, as we understand it, beating out McCarthy, among others).
The party is over, however.
The projections are rolling in.
And according to the oddsmakers, the Saints - coming off a 5-12 season - have the lowest projected win total of any team in the NFL at 4.5.
Ouch.
“A successful season as Eagles OC led Kellen Moore to a head coaching position, but he could be in for a nightmare season,” USA Today writes. “His best quarterback had health concerns. Then, he retired. Rookie quarterback Tyler Shough will need to get up to speed quickly, or we could be in for another run by Spencer Rattler.”
Moore turns 37 on July 5, so he still qualifies as "one of the brightest young offensive minds in pro football,'' as is so often written.
But he doesn't have Dak and CeeDee Lamb anymore.
Nor does he have Barkley and Hurts and A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.
He has, in New Orleans' offense, Alvin Kamara and Chris Olave and little else.
The Eagles should be great again. The Cowboys think they'll be good.
The Saints? they will likely be favored only four times all season, at best: twice against the lowly Carolina Panthers and Week 16 and 17 games against the New York Jets and Tennessee Titans.
There are only 32 of these jobs, and Moore was due to get one. But the challenge is now about the avoidance of a "nightmare'' in the Big Easy.