Mal Moore Position: Director of Athletics

As a permanent tribute to Director of Athletics Mal Moore’s lifetime contributions to The University of Alabama, the Board of Trustees of The University of Alabama officially dedicated the facility formerly known as the Football Building as the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility on March 28, 2007.

Normally, the naming of a building in your honor would serve as a fitting end to an outstanding career, but Mal Moore’s ongoing vision remains focused on two primary objectives: elevating athletic facilities at the Capstone to premier status nationally for all sports and making all Crimson Tide athletic teams competitive at the highest level nationally.

Moore’s distinguished record of service to UA began almost 50 years ago when he joined the Crimson Tide football squad as a scholarship player for Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant from 1958-62. He earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1963 and a master’s in secondary education in 1964. Moore has the distinction of being a part of seven national championships during his career as a player and coach, the first as a member of the Crimson Tide’s 1961 national championship team.

During his coaching tenure, Moore served as Coach Bryant’s graduate assistant in 1964, then as defensive backfield coach for five years beginning in 1965 before becoming quarterbacks coach from 1971-1982, and taking on additional responsibility as the Tide’s first offensive coordinator in 1975. He is the only individual connected with the Alabama coaching staffs, both past and present, to be a part of seven national championships (1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979, and 1992). After coaching stops at Montana State, Notre Dame and the NFL’s St. Louis and Phoenix Cardinals, Moore returned to Alabama, and was named assistant athletics director in 1993 and associate director for external affairs in 1994. He was named director of athletics on Nov. 23, 1999.

Three elements of his story make Mal Moore deserving of a special place in UA athletics history. First, he has been a part of seven national championship football teams (as a player and coach). Second, he’s been the leader who brought the UA athletic program into the 21st century in terms of facilities and staffing. Third and, perhaps most importantly, his love for the University of Alabama is unsurpassed.

Now in his 10th year as the Tide’s Director of Athletics, Moore made an indelible mark on one of the nation’s most storied athletic programs.

Alabama’s athletic teams have excelled in competition and he directed completion of a $125 million facilities campaign that revitalized the Crimson Tide’s athletic facilities. Moore’s leadership, vision and initiative enabled the monumental project to reach fruition.

Alabama football competes in the newly expanded Bryant-Denny Stadium which holds 92,138 fans, the eighth-largest on campus facility in the nation. With the north end zone expansion completed, this magnificent edifice now houses 120 skyboxes, a new home team locker room, a club level area hosting 1,680 patrons, a new administrative level and approximately 6,800 additional upper deck seats.

Moore’s tenure at UA has been marked by unprecedented facility growth for the athletic department but he has also had a national impact as a key member of several prestigious NCAA and college football committees. Moore currently serves on the NCAA Division I Football Issues Committee, the SEC Athletic Directors Bowl Advisory Committee and on the Big Six Conferences Minority Coaches Forum.

Alabama student-athletes utilize new stadiums for soccer and tennis and football enjoys use of a state-of-the-art weight facility, locker room and sports medicine area and a Hall of Champions and administrative area that makes it one of top venues in the nation. Crimson Tide student-athletes also benefit from a state-of-the-art academic center completed in early 2005. Also completed in 2005 was a $22 million renovation of Coleman Coliseum.

Moore’s leadership was crucial in helping guide Alabama through a period was, at times, extremely difficult. His guidance and efforts helped Alabama athletics weather the storm, while continuing to move in a positive direction toward a future that holds great promise to shine as brightly as Alabama’s storied past.

Under Moore’s direction Alabama’s athletic teams have produced a number of Southeastern Conference titles, including men’s basketball, gymnastics, baseball, softball and men’s golf and SEC tournament titles in both baseball and softball, and an NCAA gymnastics title. Alabama athletes have earned some of the highest honors the SEC and NCAA have to offer, including SEC Athlete of the Year, SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, NCAA Top VIII, NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships and NCAA Sportsperson of the Year. These honors are over and above the individual conference and national titles that Alabama athletes continue to bring home to the Capstone.

During his tenure, Moore has also supervised the completion of a number of other facility projects, highlighted by the expansion of Sewell-Thomas Stadium; new lighting systems for Coleman Coliseum, Sewell-Thomas Stadium and the women’s soccer field and installation of new artificial turf in the Hank Crisp Indoor Practice Facility.

Hired on November 23, 1999, Moore’s stint as Director of Athletics is the latest phase of service to the Capstone. Well known in athletic circles, Moore stewards a vision of championships and success via his vast experience in collegiate athletics. As a player and coach at Alabama, Moore was part of seven national championships, 14 SEC championships, and 27 bowl trips.

Alabama capitalized on that background, and Moore’s popularity, by naming him as Associate Athletics Director for External Affairs in 1994, a position that required constant travel to speaking engagements around the Southeast. Throughout his multi-faceted career, Moore has worked with a diversified field of constituents, from fellow coaches to former players, to fans and the business community. All those experiences and relationships made him the ideal person to lead Alabama athletics into the 21st century.

A 1963 graduate of The University of Alabama, Moore holds both an undergraduate degree in Sociology and a 1964 Master’s Degree in Secondary Education from the Capstone. A scholarship player for Coach Paul W. “Bear” Bryant, Moore was a member of Alabama’s 1961 national championship team.

Coaching football for 31 years, 22 of those at Alabama, provided Moore with a wealth of experience and knowledge in the world of college athletics.
As a coach, Moore served as Bryant’s graduate assistant in 1964 and then Alabama’s defensive backfield coach from 1965-70. He served as the Tide’s quarterbacks coach from 1971-82 and from 1975-82 took on the additional responsibility and elevated role as the Tide’s offensive coordinator.

Alabama won national championships, in 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979 and
1992 with Moore coordinating all the offensive plays for the last four of those championship teams. He is the only man connected with the Alabama coaching staffs, past or present, who was a member of all seven of those title squads. In addition to Alabama, his coaching career included stops at Montana State, Notre Dame and the NFL’s Phoenix Cardinals.

Moore was born December 19, 1939, in Dozier, Ala. He has been married to the former Charlotte Davis of Tuscaloosa since July 20, 1968. They have one daughter, Mrs. Steve (Heather) Cook of Scottsdale, Ariz., a granddaughter, Anna Lee, and a grandson, Charles Cannon.