The Washington State Cougars have dealt with the harshness of the coaching carousel more than any other program in the past few seasons. Last offseason, Wake Forest looked to Pullman for their head coach hiring Jake Dickert, while offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle could've been a replacement, but he became Oklahoma's OC. After losing Dickert, the Cougars hired Jimmy Rogers who did such a great job that he landed the job at Iowa State.
As the Cougars prepare for the rebuilt Pac 12 to make it's debut next season, the program needed to find a new head coach who can hopefully bring some stability. On Friday Afternoon, the Cougars landed their next head coach with a pretty impressive hiring.
Washington State nabs Missouri's Kirby Moore as new leader
On Friday Afternoon, Washington State hired Missouri offensive coordinator Kirby Moore, solidifying their future at the top of the program.
BREAKING: Washington State is set to hire Missouri offensive coordinator Kirby Moore as its next head coach, @PeteNakos reports. https://t.co/kOjnbAo0bn pic.twitter.com/M8jViwvItP
— On3 (@On3sports) December 12, 2025
The Cougars will be Kirby Moore's first job as a head coach, but over the years he's proven that he's a capable candidate and should find success out West.
After finishing his playing career at Boise State, Kirby Moore got into coaching as the wide receivers coach at Idaho. Moore then quickly rose through the ranks becoming a GA at Washington before being hired at Fresno State as a wide receivers coach. When Kalen DeBoer took the job, he retained Moore. When DeBoer took the Washington job, Kirby Moore was given his first gig as an offensive coordinator.
In 2023, Kirby Moore became the offensive coordinator at Missouri, a role that he's served for the past 3 seasons. This season, Missouri averaged 234.1 rushing yards per game, which ranked 8th in the Country, while scoring 32.2 points per game, which is impressive considering the Tigers lost their starting quarterback.
The Cougars are getting a great fit as Moore grew up in Washington and has coached in the State once before. The biggest battle for the Cougars now is retaining their new head coach as they can't afford to continue making head coaching swings.