7:05pm: David Moore of the Dallas Morning News reports that McCarthy will indeed call plays on offense in 2023, a season in which he will find himself increasingly on the hot seat.
5:56pm: The Cowboys were able to once again retain one of their key coordinators for the 2023 season, but the same will not hold true on the offensive side of the ball. Dallas has mutually parted ways with OC Kellen Moore, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link). A team announcement has confirmed the news.
Moore, 33, joined the Cowboys in 2018 as the team’s quarterbacks coach. One year later, he was promoted to the role of OC, which he held until now. Regarded as one of the league’s top up-and-coming minds on that side of the ball, the move was seen with optimism especially given the promise shown by Dallas’ nucleus led by Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott. The unit’s performance under Moore has led to mixed results. 
Dallas had the No. 1 total offense in the league in 2019, a feat which they repeated in 2021. In terms of scoring, the Cowboys led the NFL that season, and ranked in the top six two other times. The lone campaign in which middling numbers can be seen was 2020, during which Prescott was limited to only five games played and the season was essentially deemed a write-off. Given those figures, Moore had become a highly-regarded coordinator receiving interest from outside teams for potential head coaching positions.
On the other hand, much of the blame for Dallas’ continued postseason shortcomings has been laid at Moore’s feet. The Cowboys were eliminated by the 49ers for the second consecutive year last week, a result marked in large part by Dallas’ inability to replicate their regular season scoring success. With Moore at the helm, this past season also saw Prescott lead the league with 15 regular season interceptions despite missing five games; he threw two crucial picks in the team’s divisional loss to San Francisco as well.
That has led to the expectation that Dallas will seek upgrades at the wide receiver position in particular, with their running back spot facing plenty of uncertainty as well. Regardless of which players are retained or replaced, the team will have a new play-caller in place for 2023. Some have speculated that head coach Mike McCarthy could take on that responsibility, one he held during his OC days and much of his tenure as the Packers’ bench boss.
As for Moore, he may not be unemployed for long. Pelissero’s colleague Ian Rapoport tweets that the Buccaneers are expected to have “significant interest” in adding him as their new OC. Tampa Bay is searching for a Byron Leftwich replacement, after he was fired following a very disappointing season on offense for the NFC South champions.
The Cowboys will have both McCarthy and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn on the sidelines once again in 2023, which will lead to expectations remaining high for the team. Before the new season kicks off, however, they will need to navigate the sizeable OC market which has taken shape this year around the league.
A few years ago he was the flavor of the month as the supposed next hot shot Head Coach.
Do you mean like 1-2 years ago? A “few years ago” he was still an NFL QB. Learn to be precise.
Dude hasn’t been an NFL QB since 2017. Maybe you should look in the mirror bud.
You are correct. 2017 was his last year.
@Commentator
I was precise. You need to learn football. The fact you think Moore was a QB a few years ago is just comical.
dont bother with them .. they didnt even bother reading the article where it says specifically, “Moore, 33, joined the Cowboys in 2018 as the team’s quarterbacks coach. One year later, he was promoted to the role of OC, which he held until now.”
He’s still getting interviews. I’d much rather have Moore calling plays than McCarthy.
He still should be. Under Moore, the Cowboys have finished 6th, 17th (the year Dak was hurt), 1st, and 4th in points scored.
This is more about Dallas being dysfunctional than it is about Moore not being good at his job. And as a Giants fan, I am very happy he’s gone and looking forward to McCarthy calling plays.
You’ll still lose to them twice year like usual.
Maybe so, but McCarthy calling plays is good for anyone playing against the Cowboys.
Typical Jerra let’s his Star wideout leave for virtually nothing and then fires his OC and still has the has been head coach
Head coach has won 12 games in back to back seasons.
Back-to-back seasons that ended with Dallas losing a playoff game.through the power of derp.
He was present for back-to-back 12 win seasons, but pretending he was responsible for them is disingenuous.
Cowboys picked a good time to bury this news … just as the Philadelphia Eagles win the NFC Championship.
In an off-season with so many OC vacancies, he should be snapped up quickly. Maybe he’s the fall guy for now and Payton waits a year for the other shoe to drop.
I most certainly could see that happening. McCarthy calling plays now leaves no offensive to blame left if he is fired. Payton would enter with a clear path offensively to set up his regime.
Scapegoat for McCarthy and Prescott.
Scape goat for Prescott.
And McCarthy, just like HE Pennypacker said.
Ummmm what? I really doubt he was the problem.
/ˈskāpˌɡōt/. a person who is blamed for the wrongdoings, mistakes, or faults of others, especially for reasons of expediency. similar: whipping boy, victim, fall guy.
He called a play with Zeke at center. It had to be done.
Did you really think they had a chance to score with 5 seconds?
Ah yes, Moore was the problem and not the janitor they run out there at QB
Eric Bienemy??
Hard to see Bieniemy jumping teams for another coordinator position somewhere the head coach’s job looks insecure.
Kellen Moore wasn’t “the” problem, but he certainly wasn’t the solution either.
Sean Payton returns as OC to get his feet wet again, and becomes the eventual HC if McCarthy gets the boot in a year. Wouldn’t that be somethin.
I’m sure you’re just being hypothetical but there’s no way Payton comes back for anything less than a lucrative head coaching job
And there’s no way the Cowboys trade multiple draft picks for an OC.
Wish the Jets waited for this to happen.
Dak Prescott’s poor play cost 4-5 Cowboys offensive coaches their jobs.
Once Pollard got hurt versus the 49ers, the offense was toast. CD was their only remaining legit weapon.
That wasn’t the only game that Prescott crapped the bed
Compare the offensive weapons that San Fran has to what Dallas has. The Cowboys had Lamb grow into a WR1 this year. They had no WR2. They had no WR3. Just a bunch of JAGs.
I’m still laughing at that final play vs the Niners. As Zeke is lining up to snap the ball, the announcers are reminding us viewers that makes him an ineligible receiver..BUT, he can still take a lateral!
Or, he could get trucked and blow up the entire (awful) play. The only thing that could have made that play sweeter (well, besides it happening against a team I didn’t also hate) would have been Zeke getting called for holding.
This surprises me. Our HS coach that my son coached with coached both Moore kids. Their dad was the head coach one of the best in State history.
Kellen was given raises a couple times to keep him there. He was supposed to be the next HC. I wonder if they mutually agreed to part ways when Kellen said he quit. Maybe he thought he would get more interest not being under contract to Dallas.
It also could have.been he was promised the HC job for a couple years and got tired of waiting. He was pretty smart in HS always watching tape and going over stuff with his dad. I watched him a couple games at the state championship he was impressive in HS.
Payton to Dallas either during next year or right after next year if they don’t get to Championship Game
Then mark it down because they’re not going to the Championship Game next year. Possibly losing Pollard, Elliott will be another year removed from being a feature back, and McCarthy will now be calling plays. Already at the cap.
Byron Leftwich to Dallas!
Moore to the Bucs!
Jerry, make it happen!
I’m not convinced Leftwich could do anything with that offense that Moore couldn’t. I view the problem as Dak is a good -but not great- QB. He can win with the right pieces around him, but they don’t give him the right pieces. A lot of that falls on Jerry and the other decision makers. I’d be shocked if that changed.
How bout dem Cowboys
He must want to actually win a Super Bowl one day.