Another month will pass before Kellen Moore makes his head coaching debut for the New Orleans Saints, and already I’m prepared to make a statement that will seem quite bold without some additional context… it’s time to put Kellen Moore in the Hall of Fame.
The College Football Hall of Fame, that is.
One trend that I’ve been noticing over the last handful of weeks has been the frequency with which Kellen Moore’s time as the starting quarterback of the Boise State Broncos is being mentioned. In fact, I’d make the case that I’ve read more about his playing career at Boise State than I have his experience on coaching staffs in the NFL. Shoot, I even wrote one of those pieces.
Since I wrote that piece, I actually received an email from a Boise State alum who thanked me for writing about Moore’s time with the Broncos. He capped his message with a simple statement… We can’t believe he’s not in the College Football Hall of Fame yet!
Truthfully, I can’t believe it either.
When Kellen Moore was at the peak of his powers at Boise State, I was just a college kid with a sports blog who spent a lot of time writing about how the NCAA needed a Playoff because the current system — which at that time, was still the BCS — wasn’t giving teams like Boise State a fair shake. Despite a 50-3 career record as the starting quarterback of the Broncos, Moore played in just one BCS bowl.
Just like it didn’t make sense back then that Boise State was regularly left out in the cold, it doesn’t make sense now that Kellen Moore isn’t a College Football Hall of Famer. I suspect that the hang-up here is that even when Moore was at his best — at the peak of his powers, so to speak — he wasn’t a physically imposing or traditionally dominant presence on the football field.
But just because Moore didn’t run like Vince Young, ooze swagger like Johnny Manziel or possess a cannon of an arm like Andrew Luck, it doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be mentioned as one of the best players and defining figures of the last 25 years of the sport.
Don’t Sleep on Kellen Moore’s Impressive Credentials
Because Boise State played in both the WAC and the Mountain West during Moore’s four seasons as the Broncos starting quarterback, you likely had to go out of your way to watch most of Boise’s games. Late kickoffs on ESPN2 or even ESPNU were not uncommon, and if casual viewers tuned in, it’s likely that the trademark blue turf at Albertsons Stadium was more of a talking point than Kellen Moore was.
Meanwhile, under the guidance of head coach Chris Petersen — who should be in the College Football Hall of Fame too, by the way — Boise State steamrolled most opponents, and Moore, a 6-foot-nothin’ kid with a shaggy haircut from small-town Prosser, Washington was carving up defenses with methodical precision. And he wasn’t just doing this to overmatched conference foes, either.
In Moore’s time at Boise State, the Broncos scored wins over ranked opponents such as Oregon (twice), TCU, Virginia Tech, Oregon State, Utah, and Georgia. His three losses came by a combined five points. Along with Alabama and Oregon, Boise State was one of just three teams to finish in the top 12 of the final AP Poll of the year in each season between 2008 and 2011.
At the end of his career, Moore departed Boise State as a three-time Conference Player of the Year Award winner and the winningest quarterback in NCAA history. He was also the 15th player in college football history to finish in the top ten of the Heisman Trophy voting three times. Over a decade later, he still ranks in the top ten all-time in both passing touchdowns and passing yards.
Is There Hope for Kellen Moore in New Orleans?
Whether or not Kellen Moore finally gets the nod and takes his well-deserved place in the College Football Hall of Fame remains to be seen. But for folks in New Orleans, the end of year development that fans will care much more about is if coach Kellen Moore has successfully managed to turn the New Orleans Saints around.
For good reason, expectations in New Orleans aren’t too high heading into the year. But it’s unmistakable that the vibes have been great since Moore arrived in the Big Easy. Whether those good vibes can hang around in the midst of what projects to be a sub-.500 season is the question.
In time, it’s possible that this new staff in New Orleans can return the Saints to where they were in the heyday of Sean Payton… back when Kellen Moore was in his heyday at Boise State.
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