COREY MOORE
Virginia Tech
Defensive Lineman, 1997-99
 
Before Virginia Tech became the Virginia Tech that dominated the East Coast for the better part of two decades, the Hokies were an upstart program needing to do more with less to succeed. They needed to take chances on recruits who may have slipped through the cracks elsewhere, and they needed to develop those recruits into legitimate pro prospects.
 
In short, they needed guys like Corey Moore, a 212-pound defensive lineman who caught the eye of assistants Bud Foster and Charley Wiles. Without Moore, there might not be a run to the national title game. Without Moore, the Hokies might not land in the ACC a few years later. Without Moore, who knows if Coach Frank Beamer's program becomes the symbol of excellence the nation remembers it as today?
 
Moore arrived at Virginia Tech in 1996. He left Blacksburg as one of the most decorated players in program history. And he can now call himself a College Football Hall of Famer, becoming the fifth Hokie player to make the Hall.
 
"I take a lot of pride in that," Moore said of helping to build Virginia Tech into the brand it became. "That's something that my former teammates and I talk about all the time. But prior to arriving there, I could sense that it was a program on the rise, and that's kind of how Coach Wiles sold it to me.
 
"I saw them play a couple times here and there. I was familiar with the program a little bit, but Coach Wiles could sell anything. He felt like it was about to be a gold mine there, and they were definitely on the rise. He saw me fitting into what they did defensively. He just made me feel like one of the guys."
 
Moore was more than just that. He became the Big East's first two-time Defensive Player of the Year. He won both the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and the Lombardi Award in 1999, given to the nation's best defensive player and best lineman, respectively.
 
He redshirted in 1996, then across the next three years amassed 166 tackles — including 58 for loss — to go with 35 sacks, six forced fumbles and three blocked kicks.
 
Most importantly, he made Virginia Tech nationally relevant, leading the Hokies to their first perfect regular season in 81 years, as the program made it all the way to the Sugar Bowl for the national title game against Florida State.
 
"We felt like we had what it took to go undefeated and contend for the national championship," Moore said. "You had Michael Vick as your starting quarterback; we felt like defensively if we shut teams down, we were going to be able to win this game, because teams weren't going to be able to score with us.
 
"So, I would say the Clemson game (a 31-11 early season win) was definitely one when I realized, OK, we could run the table with this. And I think when we got Syracuse at home and drilled them (62-0)— as I like to say, took them to the woodshed — that was another game where I said, OK, if we stay focused and take it one game at a time, we've got this."
 
Virginia Tech retired Moore's No. 56 jersey in 2010, an honor he could not have seen coming when he was a kid growing up and playing ball in Brownsville, Tenn.
 
"I thought back a little bit to all of my mentors," Moore said, reflecting on his latest distinction as a Hall of Famer. "I thought back to my high school coaches who pushed me to play, because I was just a kid playing because my friend group played sports, so I played sports. But I was always the academic one, the smart one or whatnot, so I thought of that.
 
"I thought of Coach Charley Wiles, because without Coach Wiles my time at Virginia Tech doesn't take place. He was the first coach who believed in me and went to bat for me, and was the reason why I went to Virginia Tech. He believed in me all the way through, and we still have a great, great relationship to this day. Coach Foster, Coach Beamer, they all took a liking to me and eventually they believed in me and trusted Coach Wiles."
 
Moore is currently the assistant dean for academic advising and student success at the University of Kentucky's college of nursing, having spent nearly his entire adult life working in higher education.
 
"Once I started working with college students, I was like, OK, I kind of like this. This is kind of cool, and I like the flexibility. And I like the college environment, so I just stuck with it," Moore said.
 
UP CLOSE:

• Named a two-time First Team All-American, unanimous honors in 1999 while also earning Big East Defensive Player of the Year honors twice.
• Became the first player in history to claim both Lombardi Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy in the same season, 1999.
• Finished his career with 166 tackles, 58 tackles for loss, 35 sacks, four pass breakups, three fumble recoveries (including one returned for a touchdown), six forced fumbles and three blocked kicks.
• Played for Hall of Fame Coach Frank Beamer.
• Becomes only the fifth Virginia Tech player to enter the College Football Hall of Fame.