NFL Rumors: Eagles' Kellen Moore Was Believed to 'Covet' Cowboys Job by Insiders

Kellen Moore has a pretty good gig right now as offensive coordinator for a Philadelphia Eagles team that's one win away from reaching the Super Bowl, but he did have his eyes on returning to the Dallas Cowboys as their head coach.

Per ESPN's Todd Archer, Moore was believed to "covet" the Cowboys job before the organization announced on Friday that Brian Schottenheimer was being hired to replace Mike McCarthy.

The Cowboys' entire process was strange, to say the least. It started with them waiting an extra week after the end of the regular season to decide they were parting ways with McCarthy when their exclusive negotiating window ended on Jan. 14 since his contract expired on week earlier.

But that decision was only made after the two sides were negotiating a contract, only to break things off when they couldn't agree on the length of a new deal.

Immediately after McCarthy's departure was announced, the Cowboys and Deion Sanders did a good job making sure everyone knew they spoke about his interest in the job.

That went nowhere because there's no indication Sanders had any sort of formal interview. Moore, Schottenheimer, Robert Saleh and Leslie Frazier were among the candidates confirmed to have met with club officials.

Moore's interest in the Cowboys job is hardly a surprise. He played for the organization for three seasons from 2015 to '17, then immediately joined their coaching staff in 2018 after his playing career ended.

The longest stint Moore has had in a single job as a coach was his four-year tenure as Cowboys offensive coordinator from 2019 to '22. He spent the 2023 season as offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Chargers, then got hired for the same role by the Eagles in February 2024.

Jerry Jones loves to keep things in the extended Cowboys family when it comes to hiring people. Moore would have fit that bill, as does Schottenheimer. The 51-year-old has worked with the team since 2022 when he was hired as a coaching analyst before replacing Moore as offensive coordinator prior to the 2023 season.