The New Orleans Saints are not yet officially allowed to hire Kellen Moore as their next head coach, but it is heavily favored to be happening after the Super Bowl. With Moore in mind, some connections can start to be made with coaches that could make sense has potential staff hires.
Our own John Sigler floated an intriguing name on Friday night in Missouri Tigers offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kirby Moore, Kellen’s younger brother. While the two have not coached together yet, they were able to play together on the Boise State Broncos back in their college days.
Sigler also mentioned that even if he doesn’t come coach with the Saints, the younger Moore could share some insight on a couple of top 2025 NFL draft prospects in wide receiver Luther Burden III and right tackle Armand Membou. Both of them are expected to be drafted in this year’s first round.
Burden has been floated as an option for New Orleans with the ninth overall selection in a lot of mock drafts. His working relationship with Moore has been interesting. The wideout had a career year in the first season under Moore’s play-calling and tutelage, but their second campaign together was much less successful.
“He does a good job at the top ends of his routes and hand-eye coordination,” Moore said of his 5-foot-11, 205-pound receiver to Chris Kwiecinksi of Columbia Daily Tribune back in 2023. He continued, “He made some tough catches over the middle. He’s a bigger slot and sometimes people play smaller slots, but I would argue when you have a bigger slot, he has more catch radius and the quarterback could see him.”
Membou has been more of a flat-out success under Moore. The 6-foot-3, 325 pounder earned a second-team All-SEC nod this past season and was widely considered to be one of the top offensive linemen in the country.
“It’s probably a combination of athletic ability and determination and drive,” Moore told Kwiecinski for The Kansas City Star. “There’s not one thing, right? There’s a number of things that make him who he is. And he just works really hard in the meeting room and on the practice field.”
Moore has also spoken about the relationship he has with his brother, specifically in a football sense.
“There’s definitely some normal life stuff and everything, but I’d be naive to not pick up the phone when I’ve got a question about a concept or something that he’s doing offensively or how we’re coaching something. So, it is what it is. My dad coached high school football for a long time. It’s how our family kind of operates. There are a lot of football conversations,” said the younger brother per MizzouToday’s Jarod Hamilton.
No matter how the search for Kellen’s coaches unfolds in the coming weeks, his relationship with Kirby could have a big impact on the Saints’ 2025 offseason.
