Saints’ new head coach Kellen Moore has not finished even organizing his staff, but he already has two distinctions going into the 2025 season. The 36-year-old NFL alum is the youngest head coach in the league, and he also was the last one to be hired.
“It took longer than we anticipated,” says Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis, who spearheaded the coaching search ”simply because the Eagles kept winning right through the Super Bowl and that delayed our opportunity to make an informed decision.”
Moore in 2025 will be on his fourth coaching staff in four seasons; he was offensive coordinator with the Cowboys (2022), Chargers (2023) and Eagles (2024) the last three years. The difference in 2025 will be that this is HIS team as head coach, not just coordinator.
“We had a number of excellent candidates for the head coaching job,” Loomis continues, “but, ultimately, we determined that Kellen is the best fit for our team. His experience and success as a player, position coach and offensive coordinator has prepared him well for this opportunity.”
Moore was an outstanding collegiate quarterback at Boise State (2007-11) and he still holds the all-time FBS record for most quarterback wins (50). However, NFL scouts were concerned about his arm strength and height (slightly less than 6 feet). He was not drafted after college and, instead, signed as a rookie free agent with the Lions. He was a backup in Detroit for three seasons before they released him. He signed the next day with the Cowboys and rotated from the active roster to the practice squad most of the next three seasons. He retired as a player in early 2018. However, Jerry Jones and the Cowboys front office were so impressed with Moore’s football acumen that they hired him as the team’s quarterbacks coach just weeks after his player retirement. The following year he was promoted to offensive coordinator in Dallas.
Moore does not see his status as the league’s youngest head coach as a detriment.
“There will be certain players on the Saints who are more closely associated to my age,” Moore explains, “and I think there’s tremendous value in that. I’ve been in those “young” shoes for several years now at different clubs. I was only 31 when I was named coordinator in Dallas; I was teammates with half the guys in that Cowboys room just two years earlier. I am really excited by this opportunity in New Orleans. I want to lead the team the right way, surround myself with tremendous leaders both on the player and coaching side. I think we can do special things.”
The Saints last season had the franchise’s worst record (5-12) in nearly two decades so there is a great deal of room for improvement.
We at NFL Alumni wish our brother Kellen Moore and his new Saints team all the best.
