COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri football coach Eliah Drinkwitz named Kirby Moore as the Tigers’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Moore joins the Mizzou staff after six seasons in various roles at Fresno State, including serving as the Bulldogs’ offensive coordinator in 2022.
“Kirby Moore was born to be a football coach,” Drinkwitz said. “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.”
“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.”
Fresno State won the 2022 Mountain West Conference Championship Game and Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl, ending the season on a nine-game winning streak, the first team in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision history to begin the season 1-4 and finish with 10 wins. For Moore, the conference championship and bowl win marked his 14th and 15th league title or bowl championship as a collegiate coach or player.
The Bulldogs were second in the NCAA FBS in completion percentage (.710) and led the Mountain West in scoring and total offense, averaging 30.6 points per game and 402.6 yards per game, respectively. Eight student-athletes earned All-MWC honors, including three first-teamers. Fresno State was among the top 42 teams in the country in yards per play in the last two seasons, averaging 6.00 (No. 42) in 2022 and 6.33 (No. 30) in 2021. All told, Fresno State’s offense featured three receivers with 50 or more receptions and four or more TD receptions, along with three running backs who averaged over five yards per carry.
Fresno State quarterback Jake Haener finished the 2022 season with an efficiency rating of 158.65, completing 72 percent of his passes and averaging 290 passing yards per game. Haener missed four games early in the season, which kept him out of the final national rankings. His completion percentage would have ranked second nationally, passing yards per game (No. 14) and efficiency rating (No. 17). In only 10 games, Haener threw for 2,896 yards, as Fresno State narrowly missed having a 3,000-yard passer, 1,000-yard rusher (Jordan Mims – 1,370 yards) and 1,000-yard receiver (Jalen Moreno-Cropper – 1,086 yards) this past season.
Moore joined the Fresno State staff in 2017 as wide receivers coach and took on the additional passing-game coordinator role before the 2020 season. He was named the Bulldogs’ primary play caller for the 2021 New Mexico Bowl – a 31-24 win featuring 467 yards of total offense – 181 rushing and 286 passing.
During Moore’s tenure on staff, the Bulldogs topped the 4,600-yard mark five times, including over 6,000 yards of total offense in 2021. The Prosser, Washington, native was named to 247Sports’ 30-under-30 list as one of college football’s rising stars in 2017 and 2018 and was 247’s top recruiter in the Mountain West in 2019.
Prior to his time on the Fresno State staff, Moore was a graduate assistant at Washington (2015-16). While at Washington, he was part of the 2016 Husky team that Won the Pac-12 Championship, advanced to the College Football Playoffs, and climbed as high as number four in the CFP rankings. He started his career as the wide receivers coach at the College of Idaho in 2014.
A standout receiver at Boise State from 2009-13, Moore helped the Broncos to 14-0 mark in 2009 and a 31-8 record over his final three seasons. He caught 115 passes in 45 collegiate games, recording 1,137 yards and six TDs. Following the 2013 season, he earned Academic All-District VII and Academic All-Mountain West Conference honors.
Part of a coaching family, Moore played for his father, Tom at Prosser High and teamed with his brother Kellen – currently the Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator – in high school and college. The elder Moore compiled a record of 234-38 (.860 winning percentage) over 23 years as a high school coach, winning 21 league titles and playing in eight state championship games. As a senior in high school, Kirby was the Washington 2A Player of the Year when he had 131 receptions for 2,126 yards and 34 TDs.
Moore and his wife Kayla have two children, a daughter, Sutton, and a son, Cohen.
