Dallas Cowboys: Grading each aspect of the 2019 offseason
By Randy Gurzi
Coaching Hires
For the past four seasons, Dallas Cowboys fans have been enduring the Scott Linehan era of offensive football. His first season came in 2015 and it was a disaster. Sure, Tony Romo was injured but the team couldn’t muster up any sort of offense with Brandon Weeden, Matt Cassel, or Kellen Moore under center.
2016 was a vast improvement, as Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott burst onto the scene and led the team to 13 wins. However, defenses figured out some of the young quarterback’s tendencies and Linehan had problems changing things up on the fly.
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After initially appearing as though they would keep Linehan this season, the Cowboys announced a mutual parting of ways. Then, the search for his predecessor was on — with fans excited about bringing in a new, fresh offensive-mind. That’s not exactly what happened though.
Names such as John DeFilippo, James Coley, and Doug Nussmeier were at the forefront until a surprise name entered the ranks. Suddenly, Kellen Moore’s name gained traction as there were rumors head coach Jason Garrett wanted to go with the former backup quarterback with one season of coaching experience.
In the end, it was Moore who was hired which wasn’t received well. Sure, Moore could end up being a bright football mind but it was a risky hire. Needing something different than Linehan brought to the table, they went with someone who spent the majority of his career quarterbacking for the offensive coordinator.
It’s hard to think that Linehan’s ways of thinking didn’t transfer to Moore during their time together in Dallas and with the Detroit Lions. That’s the main mentor he has had in the NFL, so he needs to prove that he’s not going to bring the same stubbornly predictable offense to Big D. As of right now, it doesn’t seem like the best move.
Grade: D