Jerry Moore Steps Down As Appalachian State Football Coach
By David Coulson
Executive Editor
College Sports Journal
BOONE, N.C. — A day after a heartbreaking playoff loss in the second-round of the NCAA Division I Football Championships, veteran head coach Jerry Moore has stepped down at Appalachian State.
News broke about 4 p.m. this afternoon that Moore had made his decision to coach one final season in 2012 in meetings with athletic director Charlie Cobb and ASU Chancellor Dr. Kenneth Peacock after the 2011 season.
Offensive coordinator Scott Satterfield has been tabbed as the interim head coach as the Mountaineers continue recruiting efforts.
“Words cannot express the gratitude that the Appalachian family has and that I have personally for Coach and Margaret (Moore),” Cobb said in a released statement. “The number of lives that Coach and Margaret have impacted in a positive way in their 24 years in the High Country is innumerable. Coach Moore is legend at Appalachian State and in college football and we are planning to celebrate his legacy appropriately and abundantly in the future.”
Moore was unavailable for comment, leaving town after telling his squad of his retirement at a team meeting this afternoon, following Saturday's stunning 38-37 overtime loss to Illinois State at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
He was traveling to New York City to introduce one of his former players, Texas Tech defensive lineman Gabe Rivera, who was being honored Tuesday night at the National Football Foundation's annual awards gala at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
Rivera was voted into the College Football Hall of Fame this summer.
Moore had spent the past 24 years at Appalachian State after arriving in 1989 to replace Sparky Woods, who took the head coaching job at South Carolina.
The 73-year-old coach was 215-87 during his ASU tenure, winning an unprecedented three consecutive Football Championship Subdivision national titles from 2005-2007, 10 Southern Conference crowns and 18 postseason appearances in his 24 years with the Mountaineers.
Appalachian State rolled to seven of those SoCon titles in his last eight years, including the one the Mountaineers shared with Georgia Southern and Wofford this season.
It almost seems like another lifetime that Moore also served as a head coach at North Texas and Texas Tech for seven years.
He also had assistant coaching stints at SMU (1965-72) under Hayden Fry, Nebraska (1973-78) with Tom Osborne and Arkansas (1988-89) for Ken Hatfield during a 51-year coaching career that began at Corsicana High School in his native Texas under Jim Acree.
Moore capped off his career with a 31-year mark of 242-135-2 as a head coach, good for 15th all-time in NCAA football history.
His eight victories this season pushed Moore past Michigan's Bo Schembechler (234 victories), Florida A&M's Billy Joe (237) and Woody Hayes of Ohio State (238) on the all-time win list.
Many will remember Moore for the stunning 34-32 win over Michigan at the Big House in 2007, but others will always think of the lives this coaching legend impacted both on and off the field.
