From Prosser to Boise State to the NFL: Kellen Moore is a Super Bowl champion

One of Boise’s greatest sports icons is a Super Bowl champion.

Kellen Moore, who became the winningest quarterback in college football history at Boise State, helped the Philadelphia Eagles dethrone the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday in Super Bowl LIX.

Moore is the offensive coordinator of the Eagles, who beat the two-time defending champion Chiefs 40-22.

The Eagles generated 345 yards of offense and three touchdowns, including a 46-yard pass from QB Jalen Hurts to DeVonta Smith late in the third quarter that made it 34-0. The surprise play call from Moore came just as the Fox broadcasters were saying the Eagles were likely to focus on running the clock.

Moore was in his first — and likely only — year directing the Eagles offense. He created a run-focused attack that capitalized on the dynamic backfield duo of dual-threat quarterback Hurts and historically productive running back Saquon Barkley. Barkley rushed for more than 2,500 yards in the regular season and postseason combined, an NFL record.

The Eagles also went 18-3 and won the championship a year after dysfunction led to the team losing six of its final seven games, including a playoff defeat.

Moore’s success this season likely will make him the youngest head coach in the NFL this week. ESPN and NFL.com have reported that Moore is in line to be hired by the New Orleans Saints, the only team without a coach. Moore interviewed before the Super Bowl but couldn’t be hired until after the game.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni seemed to hint at Moore’s upcoming decision when asked about his play calling during the trophy ceremony.

“Let’s run this … back, Kellen,” Sirianni said with a smile. “Let’s run this back.”

And team owner Jeffrey Lurie told Jori Epstein of Yahoo Sports that he expects Moore to leave.

“Unfortunately, we’re gonna have to wish him the very best with New Orleans,” Lurie told Epstein. “… Very smart coach who was able to adapt our offense week to week (as) needed to win games.”

Moore has been a phenom from the early days of his football career. After a prolific career playing for his dad and with his brother at Prosser High in Washington, most major college programs passed on Moore because he was undersized. One coach in the former Pac-10 told a family friend he’d like to have Moore on his team just so he could hire him as a coach when he was done playing — and that was before Moore had taken a snap in college.

Boise State signed Moore in 2007 and installed him as the starting quarterback as a redshirt freshman in 2008. Moore posted a 50-3 record, including undefeated regular seasons in 2008 and 2009. His three losses were by one point, by three points in overtime and by one point. He was a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2010.

Still, Moore went undrafted in 2012. He spent six seasons as a reserve quarterback with the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys (starting twice in 2015) before retiring following the 2017 season. Just as that college coach predicted when Moore was a teenager, he immediately became a coach for his last team — the Cowboys.

Moore was the Cowboys’ quarterbacks coach in 2018 and offensive coordinator from 2019 to 2022. He moved to the Los Angeles Chargers in 2023, where his quarterback (Justin Herbert) got hurt and his boss (Brandon Staley) got fired. That led Moore to the Eagles — and a championship celebration.