Kellen Moore, Cowboys Part Ways; Mike McCarthy Reportedly Will Call Plays in 2023

The Dallas Cowboys and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore have mutually agreed to part ways, head coach Mike McCarthy confirmed Sunday night.

David Moore of the Dallas Morning News previously reported the news, noting McCarthy will call plays for the team in 2023.

Moore is expected to receive "significant interest" from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for their vacant offensive coordinator position, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. The Bucs fired Byron Leftwich following the 2022 campaign.

Rapoport added that Moore is also expected to speak with the Los Angeles Chargers regarding their offensive coordinator job. L.A. fired Joe Lombardi following the 2022 season.

While meeting with reporters earlier this week, McCarthy failed to acknowledge whether Moore's job as the team's offensive coordinator was safe following a disappointing 19-12 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Divisional Round.

"I don't want to play this game today,'' McCarthy told reporters. "Kellen Moore, just like the rest of the coaches, will be evaluated."

According to the Dallas Morning News, Moore's status as the team's offensive coordinator "dominated conversations between McCarthy, owner Jerry Jones and executive vice president Stephen Jones" over the last two days. The trio's "goal" was to decide whether or not they could upgrade the position.

Moore had been the Cowboys offensive coordinator since the 2019 season, and the Dallas offense found plenty of success with him calling plays. With the 34-year-old at the helm of the offense, the Cowboys ranked first in yards twice (2019, 2021) and first in points in 2021.

During the 2022 season, the Cowboys averaged 354.9 yards per game—219.8 passing and 135.2 rushing—which ranked 11th in the NFL. They also scored 27.5 points per game, which ranked fourth in the league.

However, the team's loss to San Francisco proved that the offense had some weaknesses, as it only managed to score one touchdown. Additionally, quarterback Dak Prescott tossed two interceptions in the loss.

In addition to a rough divisional-round performance, Prescott had a disappointing regular season. In 12 games, he completed 66.2 percent of his passes for 2,860 yards and 23 touchdowns against a career-high 15 interceptions.

Dallas not having many wideout options beyond CeeDee Lamb certainly didn't help Prescott, but that's no excuse.

With Prescott and the Cowboys finding little postseason success since the quarterback made his debut in 2016, it became clear that something needed to change. With McCarthy now expected to call plays, it will be interesting to see how Prescott will be impacted.

McCarthy called plays when he won a Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers in 2011. Maybe he can help Dallas win its first title since 1996 by doing so next season.