Tweet
Moore knows saying Air Coryell is like catnip to us old timers
-
-
In case anyone was wondering if Spanos, Telesco, or Staley was the one who hired Moore…
7. The process of hiring Moore moved rapidly for the Chargers. Moore said he had conversations with the Cowboys on Friday and Saturday about his future. By Sunday morning, they had agreed to part ways. Moore said he then had a conversation with Staley “rather quickly” and things moved from there. Staley and Moore spent time together in August when the Chargers and Cowboys held joint practices in August.
“Any time you do one of those, you kind of get to know the other staff pretty well,” Moore said of the joint practices. “Spend a lot of time just getting practices organized, schedules and scripts and all that sort of stuff. And I really, really enjoyed my time with Brandon during those couple days.”
Moore said he and Staley kept in touch over the season via text, and those joint practices set the stage for how quickly the Chargers were able to make their move and bring Moore aboard.
Comment
-
Lynn hired Bradley and decided to keep Whisenhunt. He could have gotten a new OC like Staley decided. I know John wasn’t involved because Moore confirmed that it was Staley who contacted him. And that the two kept been in friendly contact throughout the season.Originally posted by beachcomber View Post
The only time the Spanos have ever gotten directly involved has been in a GM or HC search. They’ve never really messed with a HC coaching staff.Comment
-
Here’s the full article:
Kellen Moore spoke with the media Wednesday for the first time since agreeing to terms with the Chargers to be their new offensive coordinator.
Here are my takeaways.
1. The Chargers and coach Brandon Staley focused most of their offensive coordinator search on the Kyle Shanahan-Sean McVay coaching tree. They interviewed three assistant coaches from McVay’s Rams staff in Thomas Brown, Zac Robinson and Greg Olson. They interviewed Vikings assistant quarterbacks coach Jerrod Johnson, who coached under Shanahan with the 49ersin 2017 and spent last season under former Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell. Moore, of course, does not come from that tree.
Moore was asked about the focus Staley had on that specific tree — something Staley spoke about explicitly at his end-of-season news conference. And Moore explained his core beliefs and philosophies in the context of that tree.
“From an offensive perspective, you take bits and pieces from everyone,” Moore said. “And I think that’s the beauty of it. We’re going to build a 2023 L.A. Chargers offense.”
He added later: “Naturally, just because you haven’t coached with certain coaches, it doesn’t mean you’re (not) influenced greatly by those guys. Certainly, the younger offensive head coaches have had a huge impact on this league and are guys that I watch each and every week, and I love watching those guys and studying their offenses and hopefully being able to incorporate some of that.”
2. We heard similar projections after the Chargers announced Joe Lombardi as their offensive coordinator in 2021. Quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator Shane Day, who was fired along with Lombardi last month, had coached with both Shanahan and McVay. Tight ends coach Kevin Koger had spent two seasons coaching under Matt LaFleur, who coached with both Shanahan and McVay. Staley talked about building a blend and incorporating some of those elements.
That never really materialized. The offense more or less operated in Lombardi’s image with a heavy dose of shorter-developing routes and concepts. The Chargers got Justin Herbert on the move periodically on bootlegs — a staple of the Shanahan-McVay style of offense — but it was never at any point a backbone or major element of the scheme. What was missing, most notably, was what Staley referred to as the “marriage of the run and the pass.”
So I am in wait-and-see mode when it comes to incorporating some of these elements into the offense, considering Moore’s background.
3. Moore mentioned two systems when discussing his core philosophy. One was the Air Coryell system, developed and made famous by former Chargers head coach Don Coryell. The other was the West Coast system, originated by legendary 49ers coach Bill Walsh.
Moore has ties to both systems.
He spent the final three years of his NFLplaying career as a reserve quarterback for former Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett. Garrett adopted the Air Coryell system from Ernie Zampese, an assistant for Coryell from 1979 to 1986. Zampese was the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator from 1994 to 1997, and Garrett was a backup quarterback for Dallas during those seasons. Moore then coached under Garrett for two seasons in Dallas, first as a quarterbacks coach in 2018 and then as the offensive coordinator in 2019. The Air Coryell system is very much a downfield passing attack.
Moore then learned the West Coast system from Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy. Moore was McCarthy’s offensive coordinator and play caller for the past three seasons. McCarthy coached under Paul Hackett for almost a decade, first at the University of Pittsburgh and then with the Chiefs. Hackett coached under Walsh for three seasons with the 49ers.
The West Coast offense, which is rooted primarily in shorter horizontal timing routes, has a rich history in the league. Lombardi, in fact, is a descendant of Walsh. Lombardi learned the system from Sean Payton, who learned it from Jon Gruden, who learned it from Mike Holmgren, who learned it from Walsh. The system, of course, goes through different iterations and variations as it is passed down and molded by different coaches. But this connection feels worth mentioning, especially since there might be some overlap between what Herbert learned in the previous offense and the West Coast concepts Moore is going to bring in.
“Will you be able to see the Air Coryell-Jason Garrett side? Absolutely,” Moore said. “Will you be able to see the West Coast and Mike McCarthy? Absolutely. We’ll keep things that are in place here that Justin feels really, really good about. And then we’ll be willing to explore.”
Kellen Moore said the Chargers will keep elements of their offense that Justin Herbert likes while being “willing to explore” more. (Ron Chenoy / USA Today)
4. This marriage of the run and the pass is a crucial piece of what Moore needs to build. The Chargers lacked a certain level of intention when designing and preparing their running game, and there was a lack of synergy and cohesion between the running game and the passing game in Lombardi’s offense, particularly in 2022. Moore was asked about this Staley phrase — the marriage of the run and the pass.
“It’s alignment, and so much of it is about the presentation,” Moore said. “Certainly the run game and the play-action pass and the movements on first and second down, when those two are in sync, the presentations are similar, it puts defenses in conflict. I think that’s something that we’re really excited about building here and developing certainly in the first and second down game. And it will allow you to be more aggressive, to get the ball downfield. Certainly it doesn’t mean you go crazy with it, but you can build those marriages. And we all know the top offenses in this league and the beauty. When those two things are in sync, it’s a beautiful thing.”
This sounds like a good start and overall approach. We will see if Moore can put it into action.
5. Moore referring to pushing the ball “downfield” should be a welcome sight to Chargers fans. Over Lombardi’s two seasons, Herbert ranked 35th of 38 qualified quarterbacks in air yards per attempt, according to TruMedia. With Herbert’s arm talent, there is no reason he should rank that low. Some of it is Herbert’s propensity to move through his reads quickly and get to his check down. But ultimately it is up to the coaching staff to put Herbert in positions in which he is encouraged to make those types of throws.
A big part of this conversation, too, is personnel. The Chargers need to add more speed at receiver so they can access these areas of the field more consistently and dangerously. Moore spoke rather refreshingly about what speed can do to an offense.
“Speed is always dangerous. We certainly have seen that throughout this league, and when you do have speed, it certainly is a huge advantage,” Moore said. “You hope that you can find a way to create those opportunities still from a schematic standpoint. But speed, you can’t coach. Speed’s very special. Certainly you want some of it. Every guy doesn’t need it. There’s plenty of ways of playing football. But certainly when you do have it, it’s a nice little advantage to be able to utilize.”
6. Moore and Herbert got a chance to connect this past summer when they made a commercial for Kendall Auto Group, a car dealership chain in the Pacific Northwest. Moore said the two spent “a few days” together making the commercial. “It’s amazing how life can come full circle here on you,” Moore said. Moore is from Prosser, Wash. Herbert is from Eugene, Ore. Moore played at Boise State. Herbert played at Oregon. Moore said he and Herbert have some “crossover relationships” from their Northwest roots.
“He’s an awesome, awesome person,” Moore said of Herbert. “Awesome player, certainly know all the physical talent. But I’m just really, really excited to work with him.”
7. The process of hiring Moore moved rapidly for the Chargers. Moore said he had conversations with the Cowboys on Friday and Saturday about his future. By Sunday morning, they had agreed to part ways. Moore said he then had a conversation with Staley “rather quickly” and things moved from there. Staley and Moore spent time together in August when the Chargers and Cowboys held joint practices in August.
“Any time you do one of those, you kind of get to know the other staff pretty well,” Moore said of the joint practices. “Spend a lot of time just getting practices organized, schedules and scripts and all that sort of stuff. And I really, really enjoyed my time with Brandon during those couple days.”
Moore said he and Staley kept in touch over the season via text, and those joint practices set the stage for how quickly the Chargers were able to make their move and bring Moore aboard.
Kellen Moore has already coached practices at the Chargers facility after the Cowboys came to town last August for joint sessions. (Kirby Lee / USA Today)
8. As far as the rest of the Chargers’ offensive staff, Moore made it sound like that group will stay mostly intact.
“Brandon and I have been able to talk through this over the course of the last few days, and I just love the way he really likes this offensive staff,” Moore said. “Every interaction I’ve had I’ve really, really enjoyed. So I’m really excited to work with these guys.”
The Chargers have an opening at quarterbacks coach, and that should get filled here in the next few weeks. I could see the Chargers making a change at offensive line coach. Brendan Nugent was hired last offseason to replace Frank Smith, who left to take the offensive coordinator job in Miami. Nugent was brought in from New Orleans, where he had previously worked alongside Lombardi. That connection is obviously gone. And with so much emphasis being put on improving the run game and building that marriage between the run game and the pass game, an offensive line coach who has familiarity with Moore would make sense
Comment
-
Comment
-
McCoy was told to fire Reich. Was that at Telesco's behest?Originally posted by Xenos View Post
I would imagine there were discussions beforehand with Telesco:
at the very least, out of courtesy
You don't just run off and hire your coordinator. Schottenheimer tried it.Comment
-
Most seemed to want to keep moore. And that he was scapegoated.Originally posted by Bolt-O View PostComment
-
Schottenheimer got into a fight with AJ and tried to hire his brother as DC.Originally posted by powderblueboy View Post
Why didn’t Telesco and Spanos convince Lynn to fire George Stewart and hire someone else instead?Comment
-
Air Coryell and the West Coast Offense?Originally posted by Xenos View Post
The deep game is Back boys. :larry::larry:Comment
-
Note to those keeping tabs. Moore brought up the vertical passing game... ala Coryell style. That would mean a receiver that can get behind
DBs deep and an premier TE, coupled with a power running game. The is almost the exact opposite of Walsh's West Coast Offense which is
predicated on spreading the D horizontally and running a zone blocking scheme.
Now I'm interested in what the Chargers offense will look like. Moore doesn't seem married to any particular scheme. Atta Boy Moore.Comment
-
If Wonderbread was a person it would be Kellen MooreComment
-
As long as he's not the Pillsbury Dough Boy ............................Originally posted by jamrock View PostComment
Comment