Four things we learned from new WSU coach Kirby Moore

It’s a new era once more in Pullman as the WSU Cougars football program has undergone another coaching change.

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Former Missouri offensive coordinator and Prosser native Kirby Moore was hired as the Cougars’ next football coach last week following the sudden departure of Jimmy Rogers, who took the head coaching position at Iowa State following one season on the Palouse.

Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy got a chance to speak with Moore on Wednesday. Here are a few things we learned from the conversation.

Why WSU

Unlike the WSU coaches who left the past two years, Moore grew up in Eastern Washington and has strong connections to the area. The program had plenty of meaning to him growing up.

“For me, it’s home,” Moore said. “I grew up on the sidelines. My dad (Tom) was a high school coach here in … Eastern Washington. They were very successful. And so whether it was Mike Price, Bill Doba, we were up and down the sidelines here. The Cougs’ success during that time, (getting to) Rose Bowls. Obviously have a ton of family ties.”

It’s not just about coming back home for Moore, though. He likes the situation WSU is heading into with a reincarnated eight-team version of the Pac-12 starting play in 2026.

“I think there’s an opportunity to win right now in the new Pac-12 footprint and be a leader there and play an exciting brand of football,” Moore said.

Lessons learned

Moore has had the opportunity to learn from some successful college coaches from his years as an assistant and his time as wide receiver at Boise State. He played for legendary coach Chris Petersen at Boise State and later coached under him as a graduate assistant with the UW Huskies. He also spent two of his seasons at Fresno State under former Huskies coach Kalen DeBoer, who is now the head coach at powerhouse Alabama. Both Petersen and DeBoer led the Huskies to the College Football Playoff, including Petersen when Moore was on his staff in 2016.

What he took away most from Petersen was how to build a culture within a program.

“Incredible appreciation for Chris Peterson, really because I was on the playing side at Boise State and seeing the culture being built year in, year out,” Moore said. “And then he goes to Washington, and you can’t just carbon copy and put the same culture in place, right? New players, new personnel, new environment, and he did a great job in navigating that because it didn’t happen overnight.

“My first year (as a graduate assistant) there, we were 4-6 at one point in the 2015 season. Winning our last two games, getting to a bowl game and then carrying that momentum into the 2016 season where we went to the College Football Playoff.”

What he learned from DeBoer came on the play-calling side.

“Incredible offensive mind, and his ability to call a game to win, whether that was in terms of emphasizing the pass, emphasizing the run, playing with tempo. … He just had a really, really good feel for that,” Moore said.

Playing to personnel

Moore was an offensive coordinator for four years before landing the head coaching gig at WSU. His first year in the role came at Fresno State in 2022, and he spent the past three years at Missouri.

Moore’s offense at Fresno State was highlighted by its passing attack. The Bulldogs led the Mountain West averaging 30.6 point per game with a passing attack that was second in the conference and 27th in the nation at 270.6 yards per game.

His offenses at Missouri have been more successful running the football, including leading the SEC and ranking eighth in the country with 234.1 rushing yards per game in 2025.

“It’s got to fit our personnel, right? It really does. And it comes back to what the quarterback’s comfortable with, what do our five guys up front do best. And we got to be on attack, we got to have the mindset that they have to defend us, and that’s looked different at different places for me,” Moore said. “I was at Fresno for six years. My last year there in 2022 … we had an NFL quarterback, Jake Haener, and speed was our friend. So we were playing in space, we were throwing the ball all across the field.

“And then we get to Missouri, well, we had a ton of athleticism out front, really good running backs and outside zone had been ran well there. So we had an emphasis of that. The quarterback was comfortable with some different concepts. We might have ran a little bit more play action and movement. So that’s something year-to-year like, hey, we’re going to go into spring ball, here’s our installation and then depending on the efficiencies, the personnel, you got to adjust that as you go and re-evaluate it consistently.”

Recruiting emphasis

The Cougs have felt the impact of the new landscape of college football with the transfer portal and NIL deals leading to roster turnover that was unheard of a decade ago. Most notably, WSU has lost some talented quarterbacks to the transfer portal in recent years, with 2025 No. 1 NFL draft pick Cam Ward and dual-threat star John Mateer leaving Pullman after standout seasons.

“I think the big thing for our team moving forward is there is an understanding that it’s a new team every year and we have to enjoy the journey – players, coaches – and really just be where your feet are,” Moore said. “Naturally, there’s a playing side to this, there’s a financial side to it, and let’s be as transparent as possible but enjoy the journey while we’re doing it.”

In the current college football world, programs will inevitably have to deal with players leaving via the transfer portal. Moore wants to make sure his staff is getting players who want to be in Pullman with an emphasis on in-state players and the pipelines the former version of the Pac-12 tapped in to.

The Cougs had 28 players sign during the early signing period earlier this month before Moore was hired. Just two of the players were in-state recruits.

“I think when I’ve seen Washington State at its best, it started in the Northwest. We do not want to be flying over players who want to be in Pullman, as well as the PAC-12 footprint,” Moore said. “I think one thing we want to establish here, previously this past season we might have had 18 players on the roster from the state of California, so we want to make sure we’re emphasizing that as well and we’re growing those relationships with high school coaches and prospects.”

Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player in this story. Listen to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app. 

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