FRISCO, TEXAS — Mike Nolan will be the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator under new head coach, Mike McCarthy.
One of the first tasks at hand for McCarthy is choosing a staff, starting with the offensive and defensive coordinator roles. Nolan has been a name swirling around since the official announcement of McCarthy as the man in charge. He was the Saints’ linebacker’s coach over the past three seasons and the two previously worked together back in 2005 when McCarthy served as the offensive coordinator under Nolan as head coach for the San Francisco 49ers. They worked well together in the past and will be reunited in Dallas.
The main question is what will happen to Kellen Moore? Moore was the offensive coordinator for Dallas in 2019 under Garrett. He was the quarterback’s coach in 2018 and was bumped up in 2019 to fill the needed position after the club-parted ways with Scott Linehan. There is talk that McCarthy would like to keep Moore on the staff for the time being.
McCarthy studied film over the past year from his house using an analytics approach and when asked by Peter King what were some of his favorite plays, he mentioned one specific play by young OC Kellen Moore. It was the third play of the Cowboys’ 2019 season where Dak Prescott play-actioned to Ezekiel Elliott moving to the right side, pulled the ball from Elliott, and Prescott flipped the ball to Amari Cooper uncovered by defenders. The play resulted in an easy first down and McCarthy remarked to King on the beauty and creativity of the play. Obviously, positive news for Moore on his upcoming future. Regardless of the outcome, McCarthy will use similar motion plays incorporating play-action and RPO’s.
