Dave Boling: Kirby Moore may not stay forever, but right now is perfect fit for WSU football

The snarky reaction to the news of the day is that Washington State University just hired Kirby Moore as its next “interim” football coach.

But nobody needs a reminder of recent coach defections in these early moments of excitement.

From the outside, Friday’s hiring of the former Missouri offensive coordinator looks like a victory for the Cougars.

Especially considering there’s a new corps of administrators pulling the levers of power in Pullman, they got it done quickly, without any unproductive flirtations and rejections coming to light.

Those things hurt, and almost always give off the feeling that you ended up settling for a second or third choice.

Plus, Moore comes from an estimable lineage, with his father, Tom, a Washington state prep coaching legend, and his brother, Kellen, in his first season as head coach of the New Orleans Saints.

Does that help with contacts and recruiting? Sure. Can’t hurt. His family ties to Washington can at least be pointed to as a hiring of a coach with roots to the region. Some fans voiced that as a requisite, believing it might give the coach more reasons to stay put.

And if he is followed by the customary influx of portal additions seeking new opportunities with a coach they’re accustomed to, they’ll be athletes coming from an SEC school, not off FBS rosters.

Further, Moore’s connections place him on a branch from the Chris Peterson coaching tree. Peterson’s successes followed him from Boise State to the University of Washington.

Since Moore is the fourth head football coach hired since Mike Leach left in January, 2020, many Cougar fans could be a tad reluctant to quickly embrace the idea that anybody coming to Pullman will be here on a long-term basis.

The two most recent have decamped for better money, and the one before that, what? Oh, yeah, the covid thing. They kind of run together.

Like the last two, Moore is young and on the rise. Surely a better option than an older warhorse saddling up for a last ride.

He will likely bring more of an offensive perspective to the job, which should appeal to members of the fan base who long for the excitement of the Mike Leach era.

And if he has success, he, too, will be attractive to predatory athletic directors whose coaches have failed, jumped ship for moneyed opportunities, or been indicted for scandalous behavior.

Those offended that WSU has become a springboard school for coaches will continue to face that reality. Well, yes, it has. And it may stay that way for a while.

Jake Dickert jumped in for the evicted Nick Rolovich and righted the ship. He was bright and personable and seemed happy in Pullman.

The most painful part of that was that he was lured away by Wake Forest, which, historically, in a different era, would have seemed no better than a lateral move.

Jimmy Rodgers’ one season, going 6-6, was commendable in the way he managed to get an entirely new roster to be competitive in most cases. The Cougs were good enough to make some of those late-game mistakes against powerful teams feel a little more frustrating.

It’s happened before, of course. Warren Powers and Jackie Sherill each left after only a season in Pullman before Jim Walden put down roots.

Dennis Erickson stayed two years before leaving for Miami. Of course he did. He could – and did – win a national championship there. I’d argue that the WSU program was better for having had him. And then Mike Price took over for an extended stay.

We’ll learn much more in coming days about Kirby Moore. It feels promising.

Welcome. Here’s hoping that his early addresses to fans don’t include promises of long-term fidelity.

The most important goal, now, is building a winning program. Worries about keeping him around are for seasons down the road