Kellen Moore has most of the New Orleans Saints behind him after a year. Things started rocky, but the end of the season produced optimism that has carried over into the offseason. Moore's first draft class yielded long term pillars like Tyler Shough, Kelvin Banks Jr. and Jonas Sanker, and then Moore followed it up with the acquisitions of David Edwards, Travis Etienne Jr. and Jordyn Tyson.
Basically, Moore has done a lot of things right since taking the job. Even with some natural growing pains for a first time head coach, he has managed to right the ship and earn the trust of fans. That trust almost a 180 after multiple fans completely misheard and/or misunderstood Moore's comments after Saturday's preseason game.
The Saints put out a terrible showing and the first thing Moore said to the media post game was, "regular season, preseason, does not matter. Those ones aren't the ones you want." The part that stood out to some was "preseason does not matter." Maybe it was because by the time you unmuted the video on social media, that's the first part that was audible, or maybe it was because by the first time some heard the clip it was already being incorrectly framed by some users.
Kellen Moore didn't dismiss the Saints' failure. He took accountability for them
Had Moore genuinely said that preseason doesn't matter then this would have been a huge problem. Yes, it's a mindset that many fans have already, but it's not a mentality a coach can have or say out loud. Fans would have been completely in their right to be frustrated with Moore.
That would be a serious offense and would reflect poorly on the mentality of the team. So, if a fan were to question the mindset or culture being built in New Orleans.
Thankfully, that isn't what Moore was saying at all. It was actually quite the opposite. Moore disregarded the belief that these types of games are acceptable simply because it's the preseason.
Rather than pushing it to the side, Moore completely owned how bad and unacceptable of a performance that was by the Saints. What more could you say when you lose 34-0 and look sloppy every step of the way.
Moore continued by saying, "that was a big time missed opportunity for us. Starts with me. We didn't respond the right way." He also added, "we didn't coach well enough to take advantage of this opportunity."
There's no doubt that those who heard a coach who didn't find the preseason important just didn't quite grasp the intended message. The words directly before and after "preseason does not matter" adds valuable context, and the full quote makes the message unmistakeable.
The misunderstanding of the message brings light to the fact that Moore is doing what you want your head coach to do. He's showing fire for a normally reserved person and calling the situation frustrating. Most importantly, he's laying all the responsibility directly at his feet.
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