Cowboys book shocking first interview to replace Kellen Moore

February 1, 2023 ndowd

The Dallas Cowboys are taking an interesting approach to backfill Kellen Moore’s role on the team as they start offensive coordinator interviews.

The Dallas Cowboys and Kellen Moore agreed to part ways earlier this week. Right away, Moore found another job as an offensive coordinator with the Los Angeles Chargers that made the whole thing look rather regrettable for Dallas.

Now, things get even more confusing upon finding out the direction Dallas is going with interviews for their new offensive coordinator because they’re going completely off-script with Jeff Nixon.

Panthers RB coach Jeff Nixon has an interview set w/ Cowboys for their offensive coordinator job, per league source.
Nixon, who called plays in ‘21 after Joe Brady was fired, did a nice job w/ D’Onta Foreman & Chuba Hubbard this season after Christian McCaffrey was traded.

— Joe Person (@josephperson) January 31, 2023

Nixon, the RB coach for the Carolina Panthers, hasn’t been brought up for this role or any other coaching opportunities so far this cylce. While going off-script and being unconventional isn’t necessarily a bad thing (it’s a strategy that has gotten the Eagles several quality coaching candidates), it doesn’t feel super comfortable.

Cowboys could use some help unlocking running back duo

Cowboys RB Tony Pollard performed very well this season, achieving 5.9 yards per touch on 232 touches this year. Still, the long-time lead back Ezekiel Elliott got more touches (248) in fewer games with a lower rate of production per touch (3.9). It was also Elliott’s lowest yards per touch in any year of his career so far.

Clearly, not a very efficient use of resources.

Elliott is owed a substantial amount of money next year and has already gotten out ahead of that, saying he’d take a pay cut if it meant staying in Dallas.

But even if they get the money figured out and move forward with both Pollard and Elliott, having someone to make sure Elliott’s and Pollard’s roles are both productive and symbiotic is key. Nixon, having specialized in running backs just before this, seems to be a good candidate if that’s the goal, assuming he can also balance the other important parts of the more wide-reaching offensive coordinator position.

It seems like the Cowboys are going to have Mike McCarthy calling plays, too, which — while fans may not like the idea of that in general — will take some of that pressure off of Nixon’s shoulders, allowing him to commit his work to figure out the bigger-picture aspects of the offense like this.

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