Former SMU Asst. Coach Jerry Moore

[MrMustang1965]

Chattanooga, Tenn. — He thought he was dead. In 1966, the locker room at Southern Methodist University was more Sammy Peckinpah than Sammy Baugh. The floors were covered in dirt. The walls wept dust. A ratty old director's chair sat in the middle of the room, begging to be kicked.

It was in that chair one night that Jerry Moore found Mustang football coach Hayden Fry in full slump, arms dangling off each side like a rag doll's, the ripped canvas straining, stitch by stitch, to hold up the man's back.

Fry's head rested awkwardly against one shoulder, his eyes fixed numbly on the ceiling above. The Mustangs had been preparing to play a tough University of Texas team on the road. It had been a long week.

Moore, then an SMU assistant coach, was not sure Fry was even breathing until the coach rolled his head back at him and, in that trademark baritone drawl, declared:

"Aw, they're gonna kill us. I mean, they . . . are . . . gonna . . . kill . . . us!"

Moore, now 66, still chuckles about that one. Once a fox, always a fox.

"(Hayden) was just poor-boying," the Appalachian State football coach told reporters as light snow fell Wednesday on Finley Stadium, site of Friday's Division I-AA football championship. "It was like he was practicing for you guys."

Thanks to a field goal from Dennis Partee, who'd gotten two teeth knocked out on the opening kickoff and spent three hours sucking on a towel, the Mustangs went on to upset Texas, 13-12. And Moore had his signature Hayden Fry moment.

"Hayden made a big difference in all my football experiences," said Moore, who worked with the former Hawkeye football coach at SMU from 1965 to 1972 and eventually succeeded him at North Texas State. "And certainly (in) my coaching experiences."

Fry has known Moore since the latter was a teenage phenom in Texas. They still exchange cards during the holidays and hugs at conventions. Their wives once entered a "beauty bowl" together. Moore might be the most beloved member of Fry's massive coaching tree. He is certainly the most often overlooked, having piled up 166 victories over 23 seasons. This is his 11th I-AA playoff berth at Appalachian State. Moore is the football dean of the Carolinas, a mantle he cherishes so much that he recently told The Charlotte Observer he's never seriously pursued another job.

"I've had people call me, I've met them in airports and other places," Moore said. "(But) I've never actively sought a job that would have me leave."

Moore's office is a two-hour drive from Mt. Mitchell, the tallest peak in the eastern third of the United States. He's won 139 games over 17 seasons at Appalachian State, which is nestled in tiny Boone, the commercial capital of North Carolina's "High Country." While college football aficionados mourned the retirements of former Fry lieutenants Bill Snyder (who won 136 at Kansas State) and Barry Alvarez (who has won 117 at Wisconsin with one game to go), Moore has quietly, steadily sustained excellence at 3,300 feet.

"Some of these guys get overlooked because they're not 'Division I,' " Fry said. "But football's football, and there's only so many hours in the day you can work. He's been associated with winning teams every place he's been."

In fact, Moore won so much as a high school coach in Corsicana, Texas — including a state title — that he was initially reluctant to come to SMU with Fry, who'd coached him at Baylor.

"I was miserable in my first year (with the Mustangs)," Moore recalled. "(Hayden) really did have to twist my arm. That first year was rough, but after that, it was fun. I learned a lot from Hayden. I really did."

How to bluff. How to adapt. For 15 seasons, the Mountaineers were the champions of the power-I formation, three yards and a cloud of dust. But in 2003, Appalachian State missed the postseason for the first time in six years. The next year, with athletic quarterback Richie Williams taking over, the Mountaineers switched to the spread option. This fall, Williams — who's nursing a sore ankle — threw for 2,680 yards while running for 933.

"Hayden had a great perception of how to use players and get the most out of them," Moore explained. "And he was very creative. Some of that stuff I've tried to lock on to."

He paused for a second.

"And some of that stuff," he noted with a grin, "I've tried to forget." In the Southern Conference, it is the stuff of legend.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/p ... /512150388

[mrydel]

Nice article. Coach Moore was (and I assume still is) a very nice man and hard working coach. He spent many hours throwing passes to the receivers who learned from him how to succeed while catching passes from Chuck Hixson, et al. I never heard him say an unkind word or anything other than encouragement. I had lost track of him and am glad to see he is reaping the rewards of his efforts.

[MrMustang1965]

Congratulations to former SMU asst. coach Jerry Moore and his Appalachian State Mountaineers on winning the NCAA Div. 1-AA championship! The Mountaineers defeated Iowa State, 21-16, on Friday night and finished the season with a 12-3 record.

[Stallion]

Jerry Moore was the coach at Tech who almost pulled off the biggest upset(tie) in his career until Bobby Leach made the play of the Century in SMU Football.