How serving as Eagles OC helped prepare Kellen Moore to be Saints HC

The New Orleans Saints officially hired Kellen Moore as their next head coach shortly after he ended his lone season serving as the Philadelphia Eagles' offensive coordinator by helping the Eagles notch a dominant 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.

Moore recently spoke with Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated about how he became a hot head-coaching candidate thanks in part to working with individuals such as Eagles offensive line coach/run game coordinator Jeff Stoutland and Philadelphia passing game coordinator Kevin Patullo.

"The first few weeks in Philadelphia, I was really mostly a listener," Moore said. "Letting Stout explain where the run game was at, Kevin Patullo explain where the passing game is at, showing those cut-ups and starting with the intent of keeping what is in place that we feel really good about. And then I’d interject with different opportunities or concepts that I feel may benefit us in the future. You had to be a really good listener, you learned how to embrace something that maybe you’re not as familiar with. We ask all players to go through that. Us coaches need to do it sometimes too."

Of course, Moore and Co. received plenty of help from Week 1 of the 2024 season through the night of Feb. 9 from key contributors such as reigning Offensive Player of the Year Saquon Barkley and Super Bowl LIX Most Valuable Player Jalen Hurts. Barkley led the league for the regular season with 2,283 total yards from scrimmage, while Hurts passed for two touchdowns and added a score on the ground in the blowout victory over the Chiefs. 

Much has been made across the past several months about how Moore, head coach Nick Sirianni and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio essentially turned Philadelphia's season around when the club entered its Week 5 bye at 2-2. The Eagles suffered just a single loss from Week 6 through Super Bowl Sunday.

"I feel like we found our identity," Moore said about the Eagles' bye. "Our style gave us a very clear identity. We’re going to run the football. We’re going to play really good situational football. And we’re gonna protect the football. That was three of the biggest things. We ran the football really well, which led to some great pass-game opportunities. Situational football, I felt like we really took a special level there moving forward. I thought that was one of our secret sauces, just playing every situation really well, our guys being on it. And we protected the football."

Of course, Moore won't have Barkley or a proven Super Bowl MVP as his QB1 with New Orleans. Assuming the Saints stick with signal-caller Derek Carr for at least one more campaign, how he performs under Moore could determine if the club is able to follow in Philadelphia's footsteps as soon as next season.