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Tuesday was the first full day we woke up knowing that Mike McCarthy is the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, but there are still plenty of things that he has to settle. We know that Mike Nolan is set to be McCarthy’s defensive coordinator in Dallas, but the offensive side of the ball hasn’t exactly been figured out. Kellen Moore did a lot of great things while running the offense last season and there is hope that he could stay and work with McCarthy.
McCarthy was reportedly open to keeping him and what is open has now swung all the way open. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport McCarthy would like Moore to in fact stay on as offensive coordinator, but Moore has another job offer.
Update on #Cowboys OC Kellen Moore: New coach Mike McCarthy would like him to stay and remain OC, which may also help Moore learn a new system. But he also has an opportunity to go back home and become the University of Washington OC under Jimmy Lake. He is mulling it all over.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 7, 2020
It was not too long ago that Chris Petersen stepped down as the head coach at the University of Washington which led to Jimmy Lake being promoted to the job. At the time, many people thought that Petersen could be in contention for what would eventually become an open Cowboys job due to the fact that Petersen knows Kellen Moore very well.
Petersen was Moore’s coach when Moore put together one of the greatest collegiate seasons that anybody ever has at Boise State, and he was a huge influence on the type of offense that he learned and currently employs. Obviously Jimmy Lake would be part of that same tree so Moore could go continue to operate under it if he likes, or he can stay on and continue to work with the Cowboys.
For what it’s worth, the idea of Moore learning a new system can either be a pro or a con in terms of keeping him. He may want to grow under the one he knows well, which would be taking the Washington job, or open to expanding his offensive knowledge.