(Pictured above with Alabama head coach Nick Saban at the 2012 NFF Annual Awards Dinner, Mal Moore claimed the prestigious NFF John L. Toner Award at the event for his superior abilities as an athletics administrator. Together they led the Crimson Tide to three national BCS championships during the past four years.)
Mal Moore, the highly influential director of athletics at Alabama and the 2012 recipient of the NFF John L. Toner Award for his superior abilities as an administrator, passed away March 30. He was 73.
"Mal's leadership of Alabama athletics was impeccable, and he was a wonderful friend of the National Football Foundation," said NFF President and CEO Steve Hatchell. "The Crimson Tide's success during his tenure transcended all aspects of university life, and his leadership had a powerful impact on the entire community. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends. He will be greatly missed, and we are extremely grateful for his contributions."
A true fixture in Crimson Tide history, Moore resided in Tuscaloosa for the better part of five decades. He was part of ten Crimson Tide national football championships, or four more than even Hall of Fame coach Bear Bryant, who was head coach from 1958-82, and more than anyone associated with the program.
For the last 14 years, Moore directed Crimson Tide athletics and its 21 sports and $101 million budget. His legacy includes three national football titles in a four-year period from 2009-2012 under Nick Saban, a Moore coaching hire, and a solid financial and administrative footing.
As a tribute to his long and illustrious career, the school renamed the former “Football Building” in 2007 as the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility, which now houses the football locker rooms, offices and equipment rooms.
One of seven children in his family, Moore grew up on a farm near Dozier, Ala., where his father was a farmer and ran a saw mill. Moore eventually collected two degrees from Alabama, and he backed up quarterback Pat Trammel in 1961, playing a role on his first national championship team, which went 11-0 and beat Arkansas 10-3 in the Sugar Bowl.
Upon graduation in 1963, he spent one season as an assistant at Montana State, but he returned to Alabama to join Bryant’s staff. During a 19-year period under Bryant, Moore first coached Alabama defensive backs, then quarterbacks and later served as offensive coordinator.
The Crimson Tide won five national titles with Moore as an assistant under Bryant (1964, ’65, ’73, ’78 and ’79). At the time of Bryant’s retirement in 1982, Moore had hoped to succeed the legend as head coach, but he was left without even an assistant coaching job at his alma mater when Ray Perkins was named Alabama’s head man.
Moore almost left coaching, but Notre Dame head football coach Gerry Faust called Moore and offered him an assistant’s job. Moore stayed in South Bend until 1986 when he joined Gene Stallings in the NFL as an assistant coach (tight ends and receivers) with the St. Louis-Phoenix Cardinals. Stallings had been an assistant coach at Alabama when Moore was a player.
When Stallings became the Crimson’s Tide’s head coach in 1990, Moore jumped at the chance to return to Tuscaloosa as offensive coordinator. Together, they helped mold Alabama’s 1992 national football championship team. After the 1993 season, he moved into athletics administration because of health concerns for his late wife Charlotte.
In 1999, Moore succeeded Bob Bockrath as Alabama’s athletics director, and he helped Alabama embark on an aggressive capital campaign, resulting in $220 million raised for improvements in athletics facilities across the board, including expansion projects (2006, 2010) of Bryant-Denny Stadium, which now seats 101,821 fans. Other projects included new stadiums for soccer, softball and tennis; new facilities for women's basketball and volleyball; a new golf clubhouse; and improved facilities for every other UA sports team.
Moore’s watch also produced national championships in women’s gymnastics (2002, 2011 and 2012), women’s golf (2012) and softball (2012) as well as 18 Southeastern Conference (SEC) team championships and numerous individual national and conference crowns. His commitment to excellence extended to the classroom with 62 Academic All-Americans, 18 NCAA Post Graduate Scholarship winners, 10 NCAA Top VIII selections, three Campbell Trophy finalists (and one winner) and three NCAA Woman of the Year finalists.
In 2011, Moore was elected to the State of Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. Moore had stepped down as the school's athletic director on March 20, and the school replaced him with NFF Board Member Bill Battle, a former Alabama player for Bear Bryant who founded the Collegiate Licensing Company.
"The University of Alabama and the world of intercollegiate athletics have lost a legend, and I have lost a dear friend," Battle said in a statement. "My heart goes out to his family and close friends in this time of sadness. After a time of grieving, we can begin to celebrate Mal's life, as his legacy will last for generations."
Moore is survived by his daughter, Mrs. Steve (Heather) Cook of Scottsdale, Ariz., and two grandchildren.
