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Columbia Daily Tribune
Missouri football OC Kirby Moore named Washington State head coach
- Story byColumbia Daily Tribune
- Missouri football OC Kirby Moore named Washington State head coach
Missouri football will be searching for a new offensive play caller.
Third-year Mizzou offensive coordinator Kirby Moore has been named the next head coach at Washington State, the Cougars announced Friday night. ESPN national college football writer Pete Thamel first reported the news.
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Rumors of Moore as a candidate for the open Wazzu job for the open head coach position at Washington State emerged Wednesday when a video was posted to Twitter by Spokesman-Review reporter Greg Woods of Moore arriving at the airport in Pullman, Washington, which is where Washington State is based.
Moore is from Prosser, Washington, and appeared on hot boards as a candidate to fill the open head coaching position at both Wazzu and Oregon State since the end of the regular season, as well as the open offensive coordinator job at Oregon, left vacant by now-Kentucky head coach Will Stein.
In the middle of the 2025 season, reports emerged that Moore had interviewed with Arkansas.
Now, he will take over at Washington State for Jimmy Rogers, who left the Cougars to fill the vacant head coaching position at Iowa State left by now-Penn State head coach Matt Campbell.
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Moore's father was the longtime head coach at Prosser High in Washington, and he still has family in the state. Prosser and Pullman are separated by just 167 miles.
The Mizzou OC is a Boise State alum and has spent time coaching at Washington under Chirs Peterson and Fresno State under Jeff Tedford and Kalen DeBoer. His brother, Kellen Moore, is the head coach of the New Orleans Saints in the NFL.
Per his most recent contract, signed shortly before the Tigers beat Ohio State in the 2023 Cotton Bowl after a tremendous first season as Mizzou's offensive play caller, Moore is signed with the Tigers through January 2027.
He earned $1.5 million in total pay per year to call plays for the Tigers, which is $250,000 more than Rogers made as the head coach at Washington State this year, per USA Today's coaching salary database.
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Neither Moore nor Washington State will owe Missouri any money in liquidated damages for terminating the coordinator's contract with Mizzou early.
Under Section 6.4.1.1 of his contract, Moore "shall owe no liquidated damages to the University if (he) accepts a position as a head coach at any institution of higher education in the United States."
Moore had a tremendous debut season with the Tigers in 2023, but the offense — the passing game, mostly — largely regressed in 2024 and 2025.
Mizzou had the nation's No. 29 team offense in 2023 under Moore. The Tigers ranked No. 56 in 2024 and are No. 32 this season, largely buoyed by a dominant run game. Missouri's passing offense this season ranks No. 109 out of 136 FBS teams.
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The move could turn out to be mutually beneficial.
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Missouri was going to have to have some tough conversations in the offseason about its offense. Drinkwitz had already called the offense "too predictable" and said it had "zero creativity" at various points throughout the 2025 season.
Jan 7, 2023; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers football team new offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Kirby Moore answers questions from reporters before the basketball game against the Vanderbilt Commodores Mizzou Arena. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
It's not likely that Mizzou would have parted ways with Moore, but the Tigers can also now pivot with a change calling the offensive plays.
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It's highly unlikely that Eli Drinkwitz, who called the plays for the Tigers for three seasons after being hired, wants to take over OC duties again.
Mizzou will likely hire somebody before Jan. 2, when the college football transfer portal opens.
In Drinkwitz's recent contract extension, he was given an extra $4 million per year to spend on his staff salary pool.
The Tigers will be dipping into that pool quickly in a search for a new offensive coordinator.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri football OC Kirby Moore named Washington State coach
