Kirby Moore makes major change to Washington State offense after 1-4 start

The change will begin with the Cougars’ Pac-12 road opener at Utah State on Friday

Sep 26, 2026; Pullman, Washington, USA; Washington State Cougars head coach Kirby Moore. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

This time, Washington State University football coach Kirby Moore didn’t wait for the inevitable question about offensive changes after the 26-6 loss Saturday to Fresno State, dropping the Cougars to 1-4.

Moore came out early in his weekly Monday meeting with the press corps and stated it.

He announced he would be taking over play-caller duties from offensive coordinator Matt Miller moving forward, starting with the team’s first Pac-12 road game Friday at Utah State.

“Yeah, I can’t wait to go to practice today,” Moore said. “Naturally, I will be on the offensive side the whole time.”

Something needed to change after the low-point loss Saturday, and the decision appeared to come from an offensive staff meeting later that night after the Cougars failed to score an offensive touchdown for the second time this season.

Behind Moore’s decision was the team’s obvious struggle to score. The Cougars have tallied nine offensive touchdowns in five games, including five against FCS opponent Duquesne in the team’s lone victory.

Why Kirby Moore is taking over play-calling

WSU is also last in the Pac-12 in offense at 287.4 yards per game, first downs (86) and third-down conversions (26.2 percent).

What also enables Moore to make a switch now is how well Trent Bray has done overseeing the defense - and that special-teams coordinator Derek Sage is part of the offensive-staff meetings.

“We’ll have dialogue,” Moore said.

Moore admitted he also had a weekend conversation with his older brother, Kellen, who is the coach for the New Orleans Saints in the NFL, about how to manage a staff while also being a play-caller.

“Just checking in with him on different areas and ways he works with his staff to make that successful,” Moore said.

Kirby Moore has a proven track record as an offensive play-caller at previous stops.

In 2022, for his only season as Fresno State’s offensive coordinator, the Bulldogs paced the Mountain West Conference in scoring (30.6 points per game) and total offense (402.6 yards per game).

In his first season at Missouri in 2023, the Tigers were the only school in the country to produce a 3,000-yard passer, 1,500-yard rusher and 1,000-yard receiver in the same season.

In 2025, Missouri was one of nine SEC programs to average 30 or more points per game, and the Tigers finished sixth in the conference in total offense (416.3 ypg).

“Coach (Moore) is a great play-caller,” WSU tight end Jack Pedersen said. “Obviously, he did a great job at Missouri. That is why he is here, and why he is the head coach at Washington State. He’s going to do an amazing job.”

What changes for offensive coordinator Matt Miller

As far as Miller’s role, he will spend more time working with the quarterbacks directly and will still be “super involved” in game-planning.

“This whole thing still has got to be super collaborative,” Moore said,

What does this mean for WSU’s quarterback situation?

The other piece of this is what happens at quarterback moving forward. Moore isn’t ready to reveal any plans on whether five-game starter Caden Pinnick will still be the guy in the huddle moving forward.

“Everyone is going to get reps (in practice) - that is the most important thing,” Moore said. “Everyone has got to make the reps count.”