Derrick Moore continues to inspire at South Carolina
COLUMBIA, S.C. (BVM) — As most of this country knows, football is a sport that doesn’t lack passion. Coaches, players and fans go to the stadium every weekend with a fiery passion and hope to see their team walk away with a win. One man who seems to carry a passion with him is Derrick Moore.
Born and raised in Albany, Georgia, Moore seemed destined for a future on the gridiron. But he had some growing up to do, and thanks to some experiences growing up and great role models, that’s exactly what happened.
“It was hot growing up in South Georgia,” Moore said. “Lots of heat, [lots] of bugs. But [it’s] a very passionate part of the country in terms of sports. [There] I got introduced to football in middle school. I was still trying to figure out who I was and all those kinds of things. Looking back, it was a ton of fun, coming up the way I did … the experience I had as a young person, they were important to have. I wouldn’t change it.”
And thanks to his middle school football coach, Moore found the passion for football and motivating others.
“My middle school coach [was] a father to so many of us boys who didn’t have dads in our lives,” Moore said. “Football was a place for a young kid to learn some discipline … [And] he gave these incredible speeches all the time. I was sitting there as a little kid saying, ‘I want to do that one day.’”
But with Proposition 48 in effect, Moore couldn’t move on and play for big-name schools after graduating from high school. So he decided to stay in Albany and attend Albany State College and focus solely on academics.
After two years there and now with an associate’s degree, Moore decided to join Division II Troy State, now Troy University, in Alabama. He rushed for 1,043 yards in his lone season. Moore would move on from Joy following this season, and that’s when he ended up at Northeastern State University (NSU).
“Being a part of that experience was phenomenal,” Moore said. “Coach [Tom] Eckert took me in and gave me the opportunity to play my final year. … It was one of the best times of my life where I had one year, not on anyone’s radar as a potential pro player, and by the time the season ended, I was on [those teams radar’s]. And certainly, school was a major part of helping me accomplish that. It was an unbelievable experience and one that I look back fondly on.”
With one year of eligibility remaining, Moore would have a season to remember. He would help the Riverhawks to a 10-1 overall record, rush for 1,502 yards and score 16 touchdowns. It was the second-best single-season rushing record ever seen at NSU.
Following his lone season at NSU, Moore entered the 1992 NFL Draft. The Atlanta Falcons would select Moore in the eighth round. Although he wouldn’t play for the Falcons, Moore would go on to have three impressive seasons in the NFL.
“I consider them [Deion and Barry Sanders] to be the two greatest players I’ve ever played with,” Moore said. “To be able to be in the locker room and to be on the field with both of those guys was extremely incredible.”
In 1993, Moore rushed for 405 yards and scored three TDs with the Detroit Lions. Following the 1994 season, Moore joined the expansion Carolina Panthers. In 13 games with the Panthers, Moore rushed for 740 yards, an expansion team record at the time, and scored four TDs. He then followed up with two seasons with the Arizona Cardinals but wouldn’t play.
“I got there [Carolina] Week 2 [of the season] and I didn’t start playing till Week 3 or 4,” Moore said. “We were playing in Death Valley and it was an unbelievable experience to play there. And we had a cast of guys who came from many places in the league. From the late, great Sam Mills to Kerry Collins who was a rookie at the time. I was on a 1,500-yard pace before the injuries sidelined me, so on a personal level, it was a heck of a season I was having. Collectively as a team, it was one of the best experiences I’ve had.”
Moore would hang up his professional cleats and pick up the coaching whistle in 1998 for Morehouse College in Atlanta. There he helped coach running backs and was the special teams coordinator until 2001.
After Morehouse, Moore accepted a job with Georgia Tech University. He helped inspire some of the Yellow Jackets’ finest athletes, including 2021 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Calvin Johnson.
“I get emotional talking about Calvin,” Moore said. “Calvin is like my own son. He’s obviously a spectacular talent [and] enormously gifted. The things he can do on the football field at that position [wide receiver] you shouldn’t be able to do, but Calvin can do them. But [I’m fascinated] in the person he is. He’s so humble and extremely considerate and [there’s] an unbelievable care factor about him and you wouldn’t know that he was gifted when you consider how a lot of gifted people carry themselves [today]. He’s one of my dearest friends in the world, but he’s been like my son to me.”
MEGALEIO!! #HOF introduction @calvinjohnsonjr pic.twitter.com/FTF6wE3No0
— Derrick C Moore (@DMoSpeaks) August 9, 2021
Along with inspiring players, Moore helped the Yellow Jackets reach four ACC title games. Georgia Tech captured the ACC title in 2009. The team also made three Orange Bowl appearances and was ranked in the top-25 for a number of years, making it to No. 7 in the nation in 2014.
An essential program Moore was a part of was the Georgia Tech Total Person Program. This program helped provide development opportunities for student-athletes, opportunities Moore didn’t have when he was a student-athlete. Moore was part of the Georgia Tech football program up until 2020.
Now, Moore has settled in at the University of South Carolina where has taken over the role of Executive Director of Player and Character Development. It seems to be a similar role that he served at Georgia Tech, but it is an important one nonetheless.
Everywhere Moore has gone, success has followed. Now Moore is set on a new journey, this time with the Gamecocks. While there, he’ll aim to impact and change more athletes’ lives in Columbia.
“It’s neat to know you’re making a positive difference in someone’s life [in the end],” Moore said.
https://twitter.com/GamecockFB/status/1351975894026510338
