COSTA MESA, Calif. — Brandon Staley has seen this caliber of relationship once before in his coaching career.
The Los Angeles Chargers coach and his new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore have quickly developed a special rapport. It’s already reminiscent of Staley’s season with Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay.
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“What we’re able to do together feels very similar to what Sean and I were able to do in terms of building a team together in all phases of the game,” Staley said Tuesday. “It’s not all about offense. It’s about defense and special teams, too. That’s where Sean and I connected — being a complete coach. Kellen is a complete coach.”
Moore’s strong offensive background complements Staley’s defensive resume, so they’re able to play off one another in that respect. But Staley also noted McVay was smart enough to be a great defensive coordinator, and he viewed Moore as a similarly well-rounded coach.
Moore’s expertise, of course, is still on the offensive side, as he played quarterback for the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys from 2012 to 2017 before joining the Dallas staff, where he spent one year as the quarterbacks coach before a quick promotion to offensive coordinator. When Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy decided to take over play-calling duties after the 2022 season, Staley quickly moved to hire Moore.
Staley admired Moore from afar. Staley’s first game as a defensive play caller in 2020 was a 20-17 win over Moore’s Cowboys, and they matched up again during Staley’s second game as Chargers coach in 2021, a 20-17 Dallas victory. The Chargers and Cowboys also conducted joint practices in 2022.
Self-scouting, evaluating, planning.
Brandon Staley can't help but compare his current situation with Kellen Moore and the Chargers to his 2020 offseason with Sean McVay.
"The parallels were crazy."
✍️ @danielrpopperhttps://t.co/ofVF35X9wR
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) July 25, 2023
“You’re just seeing his evolution as the coach,” Staley said. “You know he’s a tough cover. You know offensively he’s thinking about things the right way, that he understands defenses, that he’s not just randomly calling plays. He’s got a plan of attack. He’s setting things up. I love the way he made it simple for the quarterback. The quarterback always played fast for him.
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“I knew it would be a great fit for what we built with (quarterback) Justin (Herbert) to this point and to be able to take this thing to a different level. He’s been awesome. It’s the way we think, the way we’re trying to attack, building a football team, all the leadership and the culture we’ve established here. He’s only going to make it better. It’s been an awesome fit.”
Herbert’s development was a pivotal draw for all parties involved. The 2020 first-round pick, who signed a five-year, $262.5 million contract extension last month, has the most passing yards through a player’s first three seasons in league history (14,089) and has the natural talent to lead the Chargers to unprecedented organizational success.
Herbert established himself with a promising rookie season under offensive coordinator Shane Steichen and built upon that success over the past two years with Joe Lombardi. Moore, who played under Lombardi in 2015, runs a similar offense — albeit one that has evolved more over the years — so it has been a smooth, productive transition.
“I see Justin taking the practice field with a lot of confidence. His pre-snap command is outstanding,” Staley said. “Let’s continue to build on what (Herbert) is comfortable with, what he’s done at a high level, what features our team. And then let’s take the elements from Dallas and Kellen’s previous experience and build it so this guy is playing fast so this isn’t like Year 1 for him.
“Kellen has done a great job. That’s the position he played. He knows that process. He’s been around that and gone through it with (Cowboys quarterback) Dak (Prescott). He’s been able to take that way of thinking and get him to play fast every day. If you get a special player like Justin playing fast, it’s dangerous.”
Prescott played every game in two of Moore’s four seasons as offensive coordinator. They (2019 and 2021) were the only two seasons of Prescott’s career in which he eclipsed 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns, and the Cowboys led the league in yards both years.
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If Herbert progresses in a similar fashion, his ceiling might be even higher.
“Justin is one of the best in this league,” Moore said. “We all get to see it each and every day here. It’s a lot of fun. I’ve really enjoyed his presence on the field. He does a phenomenal job as the commander, the leader. His understanding of football, he’s got a really high football IQ, and it’s been fun to see him build on that this offseason with his command of the offense and all the stuff he can do within the huddle and the line of scrimmage.
“He’s got a lot of attributes that we certainly want to take advantage of. I think it’s just the collaboration in building something that he is really comfortable with and he can play at a high level, play and operate really fast, play confidently. That’s what this is about, going through the installation process and building it, then just making little adjustments and making sure as we’re heading toward September to build this thing as we need to.”
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Though Herbert’s development and production are major components of Moore’s job, Staley was also attracted to the way Moore had used the Cowboys’ skill players. Running backs Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard and receivers Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup and CeeDee Lamb had 1,000-yard seasons during Moore’s tenure.
The Chargers already have proven commodities on offense with wideouts Keenan Allen and Mike Williams and running back Austin Ekeler. Receiver Josh Palmer took a nice jump in his second season, and rookie first-rounder Quentin Johnston already looks like a hit.
The Chargers have been gushing over the way the skill group has looked in training camp.
“It’s really fun just putting these guys in different positions and then ultimately finding where we want to build it for September,” Moore said. “It’s a really good blend of some veteran guys who have played a lot of ball like Mike and Keenan. Lean on their experience, and continue to try to get feedback from those guys. Josh took the big step last year. Q is coming in and (is) building his role. It’s been awesome.”
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Of course, there’s some give and take with investing in a coordinator on the rise. Moore is already on the short list of head-coaching candidates who should again hit the interview circuit after the season. And if the Chargers offense performs at an even higher level in 2023, Moore could graduate from the shortlist to the priority list.
Then again, that’s exactly how it played out with Staley during his only season with the Rams.
“Certainly, we all have aspirations for that,” Moore said of a head-coaching opportunity. “This has been a really fun transition because you get to see a different environment. Brandon has done an awesome job building this place. Then at the same time, this has been a fun place where you just get to dig into ball as we build the system, so there’s been a lot of studying football and collaborating with a lot of people. I’ve really enjoyed that.”
(Photo of Kellen Moore and Justin Herbert: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)
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