Carl Granderson didn’t know a whole lot about the new young coach the New Orleans Saints hired in February to resurrect the franchise.
All Granderson really knew was that Kellen Moore was once a star college quarterback.
“I just knew he went to Boise State, and I went to Wyoming, and we hated Boise,” Granderson said.
Granderson has a better understanding of who Moore is now. Moore’s playing days are a thing of the past. He’s been an assistant coach in the NFL for the past seven seasons. Now, at the age of 36, he has landed one of the 32 most coveted positions in the NFL. Moore conducted his first three practices with his full team this week as the Saints conducted OTAs (Organized Team Activities). It hasn’t taken Moore long to convince his players that he’s the right man for the job.
“He brings a different type of energy and vibe to the locker room,” Granderson said. “I feel like everything seems more intact and on schedule. He is just bringing a different swagger to the whole facility and organization right now.”
The Saints need some swagger. You tend to lose all the swagger you once had when you finish a season 5-12 and fail to make the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year. It was a season so bad that it prompted the midseason firing of Dennis Allen and the eventual hiring of Moore, who spent last season as offensive coordinator of the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Just three months on the new job, Moore says the transition from coordinator to head coach has been a smooth one.
“It’s been a really good process,” Moore said. “I feel fortunate to be teaming up with some really good people here who have done it for a long time. You lean on those resources.”
Those resources include everybody from defensive coordinator Brandon Staley (former head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers) to Ted Rath, the team's director of sports performance. Moore also hasn’t been afraid to lean on veteran players like linebacker Demario Davis to get a gauge on the locker room.
Honest dialogue is something Moore believes in. It’s the one thing tight end Juwan Johnson has appreciated the most in the early stages of playing for his third head coach in five years. When Derek Carr announced his retirement two weeks ago, Moore made sure his players knew about it before they saw it somewhere on social media or scrolling across the bottom of their TV screens on the ESPN ticker.
“Kellen relayed it to us before it hit the public, and that says a lot,” Johnson said. “In the past, news broke and we didn’t even know until it hit the media. So I think the communication part and his ability to really open up to guys is going to be big for him. There’s not a disconnect between upstairs and downstairs.”
Moore hasn’t been afraid to switch things up, evident by who lined up where on the offensive line during Thursday’s practice. Taliese Fuaga, the Saints’ first-round draft pick last year who played left tackle as a rookie, was at right tackle. Kelvin Banks, this year’s first-round pick, was playing left tackle. Trevor Penning, who played right tackle last season, was playing left guard.
Fuaga likes what he’s seen thus far in Moore.
“It’s different than we had last year, I’ll just say that,” Fuaga said. “I won’t say it’s the opposite, but it’s just more of a relaxed guy. But a guy that wants to win. It’s a good thing. He comes from a winning program. The things he’s doing, I love.”
Players see some benefits in Moore’s youthfulness. Moore, who is just six months older than Davis, is the youngest coach in the NFL. But Moore started his NFL coaching career when he was 30, so coaching players his age is nothing new.
“Obviously he’s a younger guy, so I feel like he can fit in well with the whole team," said quarterback Spencer Rattler. "It’s just a new energy around, and I think that’s a good thing for everybody. ... I just think he has a really calm demeanor.”
If there are any concerns that demeanor, tight end Foster Moreau says there shouldn’t be.
“It could be confused that he’s laid back or a little passive,” Moreau said. “But he’s active and he’s intelligent and a good play-caller in this league. We’re pretty fortunate to have him.”
All the high praise for Moore should be expected this time of the year. After all, it's the honeymoon stage. Everything is perfect right now. Inevitably, Moore will be judged on wins and losses. All that will matters is if he can get the Saints back on track. Outside of the Saints facility, expectations are low. The Vegas oddsmakers have set the over/under on wins this season at 5½.
The optimism around the league is so low that the Saints, for the first time since 2000, don’t have a single prime-time game on their schedule. While the rest of the country won’t see Moore’s team much this season, Saints fans will be watching with a keen eye to see if their first-year coach can get things pointed in the right direction. It’s early, but his players believe he can.
“Let’s just start out with his mentality first,” Granderson said. “His whole demeanor, play calling and everything is different. We are trying to change things around and get to the playoffs, and I think Kellen is the right coach to do that.”
We’ll have to wait until September to see if Moore can win games.
But as we get to the end of May, it seems clear he’s already won the locker room.