Former Pittsburgh Steelers Offensive Coordinator Tom Moore has been with an NFL team ever since 1977 when he joined Pittsburgh as a wide receivers coach. He won a pair of Super Bowl rings with the team before winning two more elsewhere. One with the Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning while guiding the ship as the Offensive Coordinator, and another championship team in 2020 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers where he continues to serve as an assistant coach at the age of 85. Moore was selected with 17 other team officials including two other assistant coaches for an Award of Excellence by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in March. He will be among those honored in Canton, OH on June 27th and 28th.
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Former Steelers Offensive Coordinator Tom Moore pictured with Peyton Manning.
Moore has also served in various assistant coach positions for the Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions, New Orleans Saints, New York Jets, Tennessee Titans, and Arizona Cardinals, in addition to coaching with the teams already listed. Hall of Fame receivers John Stallworth and Lynn Swann fully experienced Moore's coaching in the late 1970s. Swann said recently to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times that there's one major reason that when Moore attends the ceremonies at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he'll be surrounded by the names of players he coached.
"He’s a great student of the game and a great teacher of the game," Swann said. "Tom knows talent. He judges talent extremely well, so he’s a reliable voice that coaches have leaned in terms of who they might draft. … He made me and Stallworth better players.”
Moore helped the Colts lead the league twice in passing offense by yards per Pro Football Reference in 2003 and 2004. With a heavy helping of Barry Sanders, he helped the Lions lead the league in total offense in 1995. Moore told Stroud it's an honor to get to go to the Hall of Fame and be surrounded by so many names he's had a connection with over the years.
“I’m very humbled. I’ve been around great players,” Moore said. “I go to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and there’s a lot of people in there I’ve been associated with. There’s about 20 of them from Pittsburgh."
Steelers OC Tom Moore's Time Highlighted Statistically By Run To AFC Championship In 1984
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Mark Malone (16) quarterback, for the Pittsburgh Steelers, celebrates a touchdown during a game against the Los Angeles Raiders on 16th December 1984 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California. The Steelers won 13-7.
In 1984, the Steelers were in the first season after Terry Bradshaw's retirement, and it was a wild new reality without the longtime franchise quarterback. Mark Malone and David Woodley split the starts at quarterback. Running backs, Frank Pollard and Walter Abercrombie carried the post-Franco Harris ground game. Stallworth, at the age of 32, posted a career-high 1,395-yard receiving season to earn his final Pro Bowl nomination of his career. The group combined to form the 8th-best offense in the league in points scored and total yards.
Despite a 9-7 record, the Steelers snuck into the playoffs thanks to some heroics from Pollard and managed to do some damage getting to the AFC title game before falling to the Miami Dolphins.
The Steelers managed to make it back to the playoffs once more in 1989 before Moore left for a job with the Vikings in 1990. Bubby Brister started 14 games as the team rebounded from a brutal drubbing by the Cleveland Browns to finish the season 9-7. The team got past the Houston Oilers in the Wild Card round before falling to the Denver Broncos in the Divisional round.
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Steelers quarterback Bubby Brister in a game against the New Orleans Saints.
Brister started for Pittsburgh in 1990 and set career highs in touchdowns and yards, but his time as a starter was over in Pittsburgh. It happened to coincide with the departure of a coach who had pounded his fist for him at the draft table.
“When he left, it hurt a lot,” Brister said. “It set me back. We’d been together in the same system. It was a crusher.”
Moore's knowledge of the offensive game has helped players to elevate themselves ever since he started in 1977, whether it be the Mannings, Stallworths, or the Bristers to name a few. It's good to see him get honored for his longtime service to the game.
Do remember Moore as a Steelers coach? Comment below!
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