Kellen Moore feels like he's in real danger of losing his job during the New Orleans Saints bye week. The loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers was a continuation of the issues that have plagued this team through the Moore era, and it's hard to not continuously play back Gayle Benson's comments as the games unfold. She promises changes if results don't change, but how patient will she be?
The one thing Benson's speech did was confirm to fans that ownership is just as frustrated as the fan base is, making questions of how hot Moore's seat is and whether or not he could get fired midseason real conversations. Paris was an important game for the Saints, and the offense apparently never left the PSG game.
Patience for a young coach is a real thing, but nothing looks like it's trending in the right direction. Most importantly, problems like slow starts, lack of preparation, inability to play four quarters and bad run game all trace back to Kellen Moore. The issue is the problems go beyond the results to a fundamental level.
The bye week is the best time for Saints to move on from Kellen Moore
The timing of this decision gives immediate perks. If the Saints decided to make a move, they’d have two weeks for the interim head coach to set a standard with the team. That time should allow the transition to be smoother than if it was done in the midst of a game week.
The bye week also gives the Saints a little time to do some self reflection. You can’t fire a coach on Thursday when there’s a game on Sunday, but the bye week lets the team take their time if they need to. These types of moves typically happen two days or less after the game, but that’s not mandatory under these circumstances, though that still feels like the timeline to expect changes if we’ll see any.
The obvious interim head coach candidate is Brandon Staley. He was a head coach for the Los Angeles Chargers, and he's actually kept his side of the ball decent. They have their issues like stopping the run, but they've been the epitome of bend don't break through most of the season.
It doesn't count for much, but showing some promise in your expertise is more than we can say for Kellen Moore. In many ways, that's the biggest indictment on the Moore era. His side of the ball hasn't been close to good enough, and answers don't seem imminent and even possible at this point.
Things feel lost, and a change in coaches may not reinvigorate the team to swing the season. However, something has to change, and if Moore isn't capable of changing it then the only other change is obvious. It's starting to feel like more sure Moore won't be the head coach in 2027, leaving the only question as does he make it to the end of 2026.
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