Chargers Official Site | Los Angeles Chargers - chargers.com

020223_ConvoWithMoore_CMS3
A Conversation With: Kellen Moore
"Let's build on all the great things that Justin Herbert has. We’ll certainly bring more into the system...but ultimately, this is his show and I'm really excited to help guide him and lead him."
By Hayley Elwood Feb 02, 2023


This week, the Chargers introduced Kellen Moore as the team's new offensive coordinator.

Moore comes to the Bolts after spending the last five seasons coaching with the Dallas Cowboys as the quarterbacks coach (2018) and offensive coordinator (2019-2022) where he held playcalling duties.

I got a chance to speak with the new OC about his experience, his plans for working with Justin Herbert, and just how much more he'll bring to this offense.



Kellen, congratulations! Welcome to the Chargers.  I should say welcome back as you were just out here for joint practices not too long ago.

What was your reaction to joining this coaching staff?

Moore: I'm just really excited. Obviously, it happened a little bit fast, but, we were fortunate to be able to do joint practices this offseason, spend some time around [head coach] Brandon [Staley] and really continue that relationship through the entire season.

And so when the opportunity presented itself, we were just fired up and really, really excited to join this.

You spent your entire coaching career with the Dallas Cowboys, most recently obviously as their offensive coordinator.

What did you learn there that you can parlay here?

Moore: I think that's the cool part about this whole journey. You take something from everyone. I was fortunate to be in Dallas for eight years as a player and a coach and be around some really special coaches and players.

I think you just take all those experiences and hopefully build on those.

Who has influenced your coaching style?

Moore: A little bit of everyone. My dad was my high school coach. Chris Petersen at Boise State. Obviously [others] in Detroit and Dallas [when I was] a player. So you get bits and pieces from everyone and I'm just excited to be with Brandon and kind of join forces and create this thing together.

What was it like having a dad as a coach and maybe now looking back on those memories and coaching some of these guys?

I know you're a father, but these are all your kids out here, too!

Moore: No doubt. It's really fun. It's really unique to have your dad as your coach. I really, really enjoyed it. I grew up around this game. I grew up as a kid wanting to be a Prosser Mustang in the state of Washington. That that was all I ever wanted to be.

It's a fun part when family and football kind of blend together and that's certainly what our family's created.

You're a former quarterback. Brandon Staley is another former quarterback.

What's it gonna be like working together to develop this offense through those eyes?

Moore: I'm really excited to work with Brandon. [He's a] young, really innovative, creative mind. He sees it from the QB's perspective, but, he's a defensive play caller. So I'm really excited to hear his perspective and just be able to have all those fun conversations as we kind of build this thing together and ultimately create a really exciting offense.

Here comes the Justin Herbert portion of this interview!

We'll get to your reunion in a minute, but what are your thoughts on getting to work with him now?

Moore: I'm really excited to work with Justin. Obviously, we certainly know the physical talent and all the things that he's been able to create. It's been really fun from afar to watch him and his journey through Oregon and certainly down here in Los Angeles and I'm really just impressed.

The little bit I've been around him as a person, [he's] just a phenomenal person [who] works his tail off and it's been really exciting to watch.

So obviously in football you watch a lot of film, I watched an obscene amount of Kendall Auto commercials in preparation for this interview.

Good chemistry between you guys leading into this, huh?

Moore: I think we've got a chance! We spent a couple of days [with] a lot of cameras in our faces and I think we pulled off a couple commercials, so we'll see if we can keep it going.

I actually asked Justin to rate your acting skills. He told me you were "incredible" and "a natural."

Flip the script, what can you say about him?

Moore: He's got a very good, dry sense of humor. It didn't take long to figure that out! We had to take a lot of retakes. He has a great ability to hold those faces and those facial expressions and it's hard to hold it in!

Getting back to football, this will be his third offensive staff in four seasons.

How do you balance the new things that you want to do with what he already knows and the experience that he has to make this transition smooth because he's had a lot of change so far?

Moore: Certainly that's been a part of Justin's journey, no doubt. Going back to Oregon and to the NFL, he's had a lot of different playcallers, a lot of different coordinators, probably a handful of systems.

Unfortunately I feel like I've been in that role. I've been in that situation as a player going through transition. So we want to make this thing as smooth as possible.

I think the first part is recognizing all the good that's going on here and certainly, we don't want to lose sight on any of that. We want to make sure that all stays here because there's a lot of good going on.

Second, there's certain things in Dallas I really enjoyed that I feel like can benefit us as we build this thing.

Then ultimately, the third part, is let's just build this thing together and figure out what we ultimately want to be.

What's the biggest thing you've learned, obviously working with Dak Prescott, to build that bond between the OC and the quarterback?

Moore: I think it's just a continuous relationship and you can't take anything for granted. You gotta spend a lot of time together, week in and week out, going through the game plans, trusting each other, [having] a voice when we agree, when we disagree and kind of go through that process together.

Ultimately, he's gotta have all the confidence in the world walking out there on the field that we're ready to go, and certainly, I think Justin will have that.

Brandon Staley talked a lot about marrying the run and the pass.

When it comes to the run game is it players? Is it scheme? How do you sort of work that to fit how you see it?

Moore: I'm really excited about working through the run game process. Again, we gotta recognize what good is going on. I'm really excited to work with this staff and kind of recognize all those good things and then certainly build a system that works for us.

The run game, the play-action game, and all the movements that go with it on first and second down, when you kind of connect those worlds, it's a really beautiful thing.

So the flip side is that GM Tom Telesco said the offense is always going to pass because of No. 10 at quarterback.

There are a lot of weapons out here, what are your impressions of those guys?

Moore: This is a phenomenal group, a group that's obviously played for a couple of years together so I'm really excited to get to know them; get to know them as players, get to know them as people and ultimately, our job is to put them in the best position to be successful.

We'll go through this whole process this offseason kind of discovering what that is.

So lastly getting back to those Kendall Auto spots, Justin's reading a book called "The Art of Moore," and he mentions, 'When you think that you've done all that you can, do more.'

When it comes to this offense, how much more you can bring out here?

Moore: Let's build on all the great things that Justin has. We'll certainly bring more into the system and more things from Dallas, but ultimately, this is his show and I'm really excited to help guide him and lead him.

back to top

Related Content

From Our Partners

Advertising