Kirby Moore shares why he accepted Missouri job
On Friday Missouri hired former Fresno State offensive coordinator Kirby Moore as their new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Moore joins Tigers’ head coach Eliah Drinkwitz as he enters his fourth season at the helm, and spoke about how Drinkwitz impact his decision to join the staff.
“Well I think I’ve always followed from afar in terms of his career and all the success he’s had in terms of I was exiting Boise as a player when he was coming in,” Moore said. “And so there’s a lot of people probably second hand who we both have relationships with and have heard a ton of good things over and over and over.”
Moore played wide receiver in college at Boise State alongside his brother and current Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore between 2009-2013. Drinkwitz joined the Boise State coaching staff in 2014 as their tight ends coach and would go on to get promoted to his first offensive coordinator job with the Broncos the next season.
From there Drinkwitz would make go on to make stops at NC State and Appalachian State before landing the Missouri head coaching job following the 2019 football season. During that time, Moore would start his coaching career at the College of Idaho, followed by a year as a graduate assistant at Washington before joining Fresno State’s coaching staff in 2020.
Before joining forces with Drinkwitz, Moore helped lead the Bulldogs to become the top offense in the Mountain West, averaging a conference-leading 402.6 yards and 30.6 points per game in his first season as their offensive coordinator. Moore is only 32 years of age, making him one of the youngest coordinators in the SEC, but hopefully for the Tigers, he and Drinkwitz can turn things around for an offense that’s coming off of their worst scoring season since 2015.
Missouri officially announces Kirby Moore as offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach
Missouri made official the hiring of Kirby Moore as an offensive assistant on the football staff, announcing the move on Thursday. Moore comes to coach for the Tigers after more than half a decade coaching at Fresno State.
Moore held the same title at Fresno State in 2022. In officially introducing him, head coach Eli Drinkwitz had plenty of praise.
“Kirby Moore was born to be a football coach,” Drinkwitz said in a release. “He’s been tutored and mentored by some of the best in the game, starting with his dad Tom, and continuing with Jeff Tedford, Kalen DeBoer and Chris Petersen. He’s a proven winner as a coach and player.”
Moore was a graduate assistant under Petersen at Washington before coaching under Tedford, then DeBoer, then Tedford once again at Fresno State.
In his own statement, Moore said he felt a connection with Missouri.
“From my initial conversation with Coach Drinkwitz, I felt the connection with his vision for the Missouri football program, and I am extremely thankful for the opportunity for my family and me to be Tigers and coach in the SEC,” Moore said. “I’ve always prided myself on having a close working relationship with each of the head coaches I’ve been with. As it’s played out, they’ve all come from offensive backgrounds. I look forward to collaborating with Coach Drinkwitz and the offensive staff in that same way. I can’t wait to get with the players and staff and go to work with spring ball only 55 days away.”
After starting the season poorly in 2022, Fresno ripped off nine-straight wins to end the year — including a bowl win over Washington State — to finish with 10 wins. Under Moore’s tutelage, quarterback Jake Haener excelled and in 2022 the Bulldogs led the Mountain West conference in total offense and scoring.