By Southern Pigskin Staff
SouthernPigskin.com

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Jerry Moore is the winningest coach in Southern Conference history.

nASHEVILLE, N.C. xe2x80x94 Former Appalachian State University football coach Jerry Moore was inducted to the Southern Conference Hall of Fame during on Monday during a ceremony at U.S. Cellular Center.

nThe winningest coach in Appalachian State University and Southern Conference history, Moore compiled a 215-87 record in his 24 seasons at Appalachian State (1989-2012), including 10 SoCon championships, 18 postseason appearances and an unprecedented three-straight NCAA Division I FCS/I-AA national titles (2005-07). In 31 years as a head coach, Moore was 242-135-2, which is good for 15th all-time among NCAA Division I coaches. In 2012 alone, Moore passed coaching legends Bo Schembechler (234 victories), Billy Joe (237) and Woody Hayes (238) on the all-time wins list.

nMoore is Appalachian Statexe2x80x99s fifth overall inductee and first former coach in the SoCon Hall of Fame, which was founded in 2009. Appalachianxe2x80x99s other SoCon Hall of Famers include 2009 inductees Melissa Morrison (womenxe2x80x99s track and field) and Valorie Whiteside (womenxe2x80x99s basketball), 2010 inductee Mary Jayne Harrelson (womenxe2x80x99s cross country/track and field) and Coakley, a 2011 inductee. Furmanxe2x80x99s Rushia Brown (womenxe2x80x99s basketball) and Clint Dempsey (menxe2x80x99s soccer), Dukexe2x80x99s Eddie Cameron (football and menxe2x80x99s basketball coach) and Wake Forestxe2x80x99s Charlie Teague (baseball) were inducted along with Moore on Monday.

nWhile he enjoyed success at nearly every stop of his 51-year coaching career, his 24 seasons at Appalachian State cemented Moorexe2x80x99s standing as one of college footballxe2x80x99s all-time great mentors.

nHe led the Mountaineers to three-consecutive national championships from 2005-07, making Appalachian the first program to ever win three-straight titles at the FCS level and the first Division I institution (FCS or FBS) to accomplish the feat in 61 years. Appalachian became the first institution from the state of North Carolina to ever win an NCAA football championship at any level when it defeated Northern Iowa, 21-16, in the 2005 national-title game, a feat it repeated with wins over Massachusetts (28-17) and Delaware (49-21) in the 2006 and xe2x80x9807 NCAA Division I Football Championship finals.

nMoore also led the Mountaineers to seven SoCon championships in an eight-year span (2005-10, xe2x80x9812), making Appalachian State only the second program to achieve that feat since the venerable league began crowning a champion in 1933. Appalachian won 26-straight conference games xe2x80x94 the second-longest run of league victories in SoCon history and the longest in 51 years xe2x80x94 from 2007-10.

nAdditionally, Appalachian State became a household name when Moore led his troops to perhaps the biggest and most prominent upset in college football history, a 34-32 triumph over the University of Michigan in the 2007 season opener. The victory over Michigan, college footballxe2x80x99s all-time winningest program which came into the contest ranked No. 5 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, marked the first time that an FCS team ever toppled a nationally ranked FBS opponent. The victory also compelled the AP to change its long-standing history of only accepting votes for FBS teams in its Top 25 poll, which allowed the Mountaineers to become the first FCS team to ever receive votes in the poll, which they did on three occasions in 2007.

nMoore is no stranger to individual awards, as he is a three-time American Football Coaches Association Coach of the Year (2005, xe2x80x9806, xe2x80x9807) and the only Division I (FCS or FBS) mentor in the 77-year history of the award to win it three years in a row. He also won the 2006 Eddie Robinson Award (National Coach of the Year) from The Sports Network, is a six-time AFCA Regional Coach of the Year (1994, xe2x80x9895, 2005, xe2x80x9806, xe2x80x9808, xe2x80x9809, xe2x80x9810) and a record eight-time SoCon Coach of the Year (1991, xe2x80x9894, xe2x80x9895, 2005, xe2x80x9806, xe2x80x9808, xe2x80x9809, xe2x80x9810). In 2009, he was named the Liberty Mutual FCS Coach of the Year, an award that included $50,000 for Moorexe2x80x99s favorite charities and $20,000 for the Appalachian State Alumni Association scholarship fund.

nUnder Moore, Appalachian State players earned all-conference recognition 257 times and received all-America honors on 99 occasions. He also coached the only two-time winner of the Walter Payton Award (FCS National Player of the Year), Armanti Edwards in 2008 and xe2x80x9809, and the only two-time winner of the Buck Buchanan Award (FCS National Defensive Player of the Year), Dexter Coakley in 1995 and xe2x80x9896.

nIn addition to his nearly quarter-century tenure at Appalachian State, Moore also served as head coach at North Texas (1979-80) and Texas Tech (1981-85) and spent 15 seasons on the staffs of legendary mentors Hayden Fry (1965-72 at SMU), Tom Osborne (1973-78 at Nebraska) and Ken Hatfield (1988 at Arkansas). Moore began his coaching career with four seasons as an assistant coach at Corsicana H.S. in Texas (1961-64).

nPrior to embarking on his legendary coaching career, Moore made his mark as one of the nationxe2x80x99s premier players at Baylor from 1958-60. He ranked among the nationxe2x80x99s top 10 in receptions while serving as a team captain for the 11th-ranked Bears as a senior and graduated from Baylor with a bachelorxe2x80x99s degree in finance and economics in 1961. A native of Bonham, Texas, Moore was an all-state performer on the gridiron and earned 14 varsity letters in four sports at Bonham H.S. He is a member of the Bonham Athletics Hall of Fame and the town honored one of its most prominent sons when it declared Feb. 18, 2008 to be xe2x80x9cJerry Moore Dayxe2x80x9d in the hamlet of 9,900 located 75 miles northeast of Dallas.