Who could replace Moore as Mizzou’s offensive coordinator?

Mizzou football is looking for a new offensive coordinator.

On3’s Pete Nakos reported Friday afternoon that Washington State was “set to hire” MU offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kirby Moore to be its next head coach. Wazzu published a news release in the evening confirming the reports, with Moore saying in the release that he was “honored and excited” to become the new head coach in Pullman, Washington.

The Prosser, Washington, product spent three seasons at MU.

When considering potential replacements, it should be noted that coach Eli Drinkwitz has plenty of experience calling plays himself. He was the offensive coordinator at Springdale High School in Arkansas, at Boise State and at NC State. He also was the co-offensive coordinator at Arkansas State in 2013.

After calling plays for three seasons at Mizzou, Drinkwitz decided he needed to focus more on being the head coach. That is, in part, why Moore was hired in January of 2023.

“I wasn’t giving us the best advantage that we could have offensively to be successful, and so it was my estimation that I needed to embrace my role more as the head coach and do the things that needed to be done there and turn over the play calling to somebody else,” Drinkwitz said at SEC Media Days that July.

Plus, MU was never a top-50 scoring offense under Drinkwitz, which might make it unlikely he returns to calling plays. So, who could actually replace Moore? Here’s a brief list of potential candidates, many of whom have previous connections to Mizzou and/or Drinkwitz.

Bryan Harsin (Cal offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach)

Drinkwitz worked under Harsin at two different stops. He was the running backs coach at Arkansas State in 2012 and 2013 when Harsin was the head coach (Drinkwitz was also the co-offensive coordinator in 2013). Drinkwitz followed Harsin when the latter became the head coach at Boise State after the 2013 season. In Boise, Drinkwitz was BSU’s tight ends coach in 2014 and the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach in 2015.

Drinkwitz was successful in both Arkansas and Idaho. In 2012, ASU’s David Oku ran for 1,061 yards and had a conference-leading 16 rushing touchdowns. The Red Wolves also averaged the most rushing yards per game and the second-highest rushing yards per attempt in the Sun Belt that season.

In 2015, Boise State averaged 39.1 points per game, which ranked No. 15 in the FBS. The Broncos had the Mountain West’s leader in passing yards (Brett Rypien), rushing touchdowns (Jeremy McNichols), receptions (Thomas Sperbeck) and reception yards (also Sperbeck).

This past season (Harsin’s first in Berkeley), Cal averaged slightly under 25 points per game, but a star emerged in true freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, a southpaw from Hawai’i who made a heap of high-level throws.

Despite Cal coach Justin Wilcox getting fired in November, Sagapolutele announced last Saturday that he would be returning to the Golden Bears next season. Whether a potential departure from Harsin would change his mind remains to be seen.

Garrett Riley (Clemson offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach)

Riley was the running backs coach at Appalachian State when Drinkwitz was the head coach of the Mountaineers that season. Running back Darrynton Evans led the Sun Belt in rush attempts, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns.

Riley has experienced major success at multiple stops as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He held the position at SMU in 2020 and 2021; the Mustangs were a top-15 scoring offense in the FBS in both seasons. In 2020, running back Ulysses Bentley IV led the American Conference in rushing yards, and the next season, quarterback Tanner Mordecai led the conference in passing yards and passing touchdowns.

In 2022, Riley was the OC and QBs coach at TCU, which made the national championship game on the back of a top-10 scoring offense. Quarterback Max Duggan led the Big 12 in passing yards and passing touchdowns while finishing second in Heisman Trophy voting. Riley won the Broyles Award, which is given to the nation’s top assistant coach.

Clemson was a middle-of-the-pack offense in 2023 and 2025, but the Tigers were a top-20 scoring offense in 2024, when they made the College Football Playoff.

Riley’s contract with Clemson runs through the 2027 season. If Riley leaves the program for another coaching job at either the collegiate or NFL level, he’ll owe Clemson 25% of the remaining compensation on his contract unless the school decides to waive the buyout. Riley’s current deal pays him $1.75 million annually.

Desmond Kitchings (Virginia offensive coordinator and tight ends coach)

Kitchings and Drinkwitz worked together at NC State, where Drinkwitz was the offensive coordinator from 2016 to 2018. Kitchings held a handful of roles in Raleigh from 2012 to 2019, but he was the running backs coach for the entire tenure.

From 2016 to 2018, Kitchings was the assistant head coach along with being the running backs coach. The Wolfpack had a 3,000-yard passer and a 1,000-yard rusher in each of those three seasons.

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Who could replace Moore as Mizzou’s offensive coordinator?

Kitchings has been the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Virginia since 2022. This season, the Cavaliers averaged 32.8 points per game. Running back J’Mari Taylor led the ACC in rushing yards, becoming the first UVA player to do so since 2004.

Kitchings’ contract with Virginia expires March 31, 2026.

Casey Woods (SMU offensive coordinator and tight ends coach)

Woods and Drinkwitz have crossed over at several stops.

In 2010, Woods was the offensive quality control coach at Auburn while Drinkwitz was the quality control coach. AU won the BCS national championship that season.

Two years later, Woods was the wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator at Arkansas State while Drinkwitz was the running backs coach.

When Drinkwitz was hired to be Mizzou’s head coach after the 2019 season, he brought Woods onto his staff as the tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator. Woods held that job until after the 2021 season, when he was hired to his current position at SMU under Rhett Lashlee, who’d just been hired from Miami. Woods and Lashlee worked together at Arkansas State and Auburn.

Jason Beck (Utah offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach)

Beck doesn’t have any Mizzou connections, but Utah coach Kyle Wittingham announced his retirement Friday after 21 seasons in Salt Lake City, meaning that Beck (and other assistant coaches) could be on the move.

The former BYU quarterback has been the OC and QBs coach for three schools over the past three seasons (Syracuse, New Mexico and Utah).

In 2024, the Lobos averaged 33.5 points per game. Quarterback Devon Dampier tallied 2,768 passing yards, 1,166 rushing yards (fourth-most among FBS quarterbacks) and 31 total touchdowns.

Dampier followed Beck to Utah, where he had 2,180 passing yards and 687 rushing yards and 29 total touchdowns.

Should MU hire internally, there are a couple of current assistant coaches with OC experience:

Jacob Peeler (Mizzou wide receivers coach)

Peeler was the offensive coordinator at Texas State in 2020 and 2021. Before that, Peeler was the co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at Ole Miss in 2019.

Sean Gleeson (Mizzou assistant quarterbacks coach)

Gleeson has eight years of offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coaching experience:

• Fairleigh Dickinson (2011-12).

• Princeton (2017-18).

• Oklahoma State (2019).

• Rutgers (2020-22).

In 2018, Princeton averaged 47 points per game, a huge jump from 38.2 points per game the year prior. In 2019, Oklahoma State averaged 32.5 points per game, and running back Chuba Hubbard led the FBS with 2,094 rushing yards. In 2020, Rutgers more than doubled its points per game average from 2019.