Kellen Moore is in the laboratory, mixing in some of this, adding a little bit of that, dabbling in the stuff over there. He is the scientist, if you will, the offensive coordinator of a Philadelphia Eagles offense that has all the ingredients for greatness.
It's the combination of elements that he's working on now as the Eagles progress through their offseason program. It is, as he said throughout his introductory press conference on Thursday at the NovaCare Complex, a process.
And a very invigorating and enjoyable one at that.
"I think everyone's got their different flavor from a systematic approach. Our real focus here, as we've gone through this process, is we've got a lot of good going on," Moore said. "We can't lose the good in the reps that (quarterback) Jalen (Hurts) and (wide receiver) A.J. (Brown) have developed and (tight end) Dallas (Goedert) has developed and this offensive line has developed. How can we build off of those things and really connect the whole thing?
"That's been a really fun process. There will be tweaks. There will be changes. Everything is constantly evolving. That's part of this whole offseason program. We got to the first week of actually being on the field with these guys. Once you get on the field, things just start evolving. That's really where we're at. We're at a really beginning level of this thing. We're really excited to go through this process. With Phase 3 (of the offseason program) we get a little more field work. When you get to Training Camp is when you can hammer the run game and the play-action game and how that stuff connects."
Moore is regarded as one of the NFL's brightest offensive minds having had success with the Cowboys and Chargers, and he has been a head coaching candidate (Moore, in fact, interviewed for the Eagles' head coaching job prior to the team hiring Nick Sirianni in 2021). The task is to collaborate with Sirianni and the offensive coaching staff and blend some of the things the Eagles have done well in the past, bring some of Moore's ideas into the fold, and also to develop some new concepts.
Hence, the Scientist angle. It fits, right?
"Fortunately, like most of us who go into the profession, you have different times in your career where whether it's a new coach coming in, or you're going into a new place, people have different exposures. The more conversations you can have, the more discussion points. Hey, we had an issue with this. We had a potential answer, vice versa, and you have that continuous conversation," Moore said. "It's been really, really fun. I love the opportunities that we can sit down and just talk about things. I learn from Nick. Hopefully I can bring some things that people can learn hopefully from just maybe an experience that I've had that's different than theirs. I think that's part of this whole process. We've got a really, really good coaching staff here. There's a good reason -- I was fortunate to bring (quarterbacks coach) Doug (Nussmeier) and (offensive assistant) Kyle (Valero), but a lot of guys stayed here because we've got a really, really good staff."
With a lot of really, really good players across the board. Hurts has his weapons in the passing game, of course, and the running back room is led by Saquon Barkley, Kenneth Gainwell, and rookie Will Shipley. The offensive line, as always, figures to be a strong point.
Moore is excited by what he's seen so far. It's early, but the impressions are extremely positive.
"Certainly we're really excited about the guys that we have in place here. A lot of guys who can do a lot of different roles and a lot of variety," Moore said. "That excites us as far as just the way we can present things for the defense, challenge people pre-snap with all the different alignments and personnel groups that we can play with. That will be a continuing building process. I think the biggest thing is having a clear identity of who we want to be, and ultimately week in and week out understanding their role certainly through a game.
"There's going to be certain games where guys are going to get more attention than others, understand that you're a big part of it. You may have the big-time assist on a play that gives us an opportunity for someone else to score a touchdown. Maybe the next week now it goes vice versa and someone else has to help the other guy out. So, I think there's that continuous trust as we build this thing."
This is just the start for Moore and the offense, which very much remains a work in progress. However, it's fair to say that everyone who touches it feels the energy and the possibilities with this offense.
How dynamic can it be?
"I think the biggest thing was I felt like, 'Hey, we got some really good stuff going on here, and we can't lose the good,'" Moore said. "Nick and I are really, really excited just to team up on this thing, team up as a whole offensive staff, and really just build this offense exactly how we want to in 2024."
