Former Kansas Jayhawks football coach Bud Moore dies at age 86
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- Bud Moore, 86, led KU to the 1975 Sun Bowl and ended OU’s 37-game run.
- Moore moved Nolan Cromwell to QB and built KU’s fast, successful backfields.
- After coaching, Moore built business interests and funded major Alabama projects.
Former Kansas Jayhawks football coach Bud Moore died Monday at his Bit and Spur farm in Lynnville, Tennessee, KU’s athletics department said.
Moore, who compiled a 17-27-1 record as KU’s head coach from 1975-78, was 86.
He was the 1975 Big Eight coach of the year and runner-up for the Football Writers Association of America’s national coach of the year honor after leading the Jayhawks to a 7-5 record and Sun Bowl appearance.
KU claimed one of the biggest wins in program history on Nov. 8, 1975, when the Moore-led Jayhawks upended Oklahoma 23-3 in Norman, Okla. KU on that day halted OU’s 37-game unbeaten streak.
Moore also led Kansas to a winning record in 1976, finishing the season 6-5 and leading KU to a national ranking. He also coached Big Eight player of the year Nolan Cromwell.
In fact, Moore moved Cromwell from defensive back to wishbone quarterback. And what followed was some of the most exciting football in KU history, including that historic win over OU.
“I think he had a lot of guts to take an all-conference safety and move him to quarterback,” said former KU offensive lineman David Lawrence, who played for Moore for two seasons. “And it didn’t just work a little bit, it worked fantastic.”
“He built one of the most exciting backfields in the history of Kansas football,” Lawrence continued in a conversation with The Star on Thursday, “a backfield that arguably will be among the fastest backfields ever in college football.”
That backfield: Cromwell, plus running backs Laverne Smith, Norris Banks and Billy Canfield.
In an era when there were just 10 bowls, Moore led the Jayhawks to the program’s fifth bowl appearance — the 1975 Sun Bowl — and first back-to-back winning seasons in two decades.
A standout end at the University of Alabama who played under Hall of Fame coach Bear Bryant from 1958-60, Moore entered coaching as an assistant at Gadsden High School in Alabama. Coaching stints followed at Kentucky, Texas A&M, North Carolina and Alabama again. He worked with offensive lines, running backs and was even a coordinator.
In 1996, Moore received the Paul W. Bryant Alumni-Athlete Award, given by the University of Alabama in recognition of “character, contribution to society, professional achievement and service to others.” And he has been inducted into both the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame and Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
News of Moore’s death was first announced by Paul W. Bryant Museum historian Kirk McNair, according to al.com.
As a player, Moore was a three-year letterman at end and tackle at Alabama. The 6-4, 190-pound Moore played in the inaugural Liberty Bowl in 1959 and in the Bluebonnet Bowl in 1960.
He also played catcher and first base for the Crimson Tide baseball team, earning letters in 1959-60 with his brother (the late Gordon “Lefty” Moore).
“I think he was fair (to all players), which says a lot,” Lawrence said. “We would have probably enjoyed knowing more about him, but that just was part of Bear Bryant — that stoic distance. He brought in some things that obviously worked for Bear Bryant. I remember he coached from the tower where he could keep an eye on everything.
“He brought in things like practicing three times a day and denying hydration for toughness. We look back now and it doesn’t look like that was a good idea, but it certainly worked for one of the greatest football coaches ever.”
After exiting coaching at the age of 40, Moore, a long-time resident of Seagrove Beach, Florida, purchased the Miller beer distributorship in the Florida panhandle.
As president and principal shareholder he was in charge of Gator Distributors’ development as it became one of the country’s top-performing beer wholesalers. From its base in Pensacola, Fla., Gator was awarded Miller Masters status and earned the highest market share of any Miller distributor in the state for seven consecutive years.
After 22 years, Moore sold the distributorship. While continuing to invest in various businesses (Dreamland BBQ, Chevrolet and Nissan dealerships), he focused his interest on Shell Creek Plantation near Catherine, Alabama.
“His pride and joy, and at 5,000 acres one of the state’s largest contiguous privately-owned properties, Moore developed Shell Creek into Alabama’s premier quail plantation,” reads a passage in his obituary.
“One of the few remaining locations in Alabama with coveys of wild birds, it hosted many field trials including the annual U.S. Open Field Trial Championship.”
According to al.com Moore was “a major donor to Alabama’s athletic department projects following his football days.”
According to Moore’s obituary, he “was extraordinarily generous, gracious, and thoughtful. He was loving and gentle. He lived to serve those with whom he was associated, especially young people. He valued people over material things and did his best to surround himself with great ones. He valued loyalty and integrity from all, and reciprocated in turn. He had a sharp intellect and an ability to motivate. He could be hard-nosed and gentle in the same instant. He loved the field, natural beauty and the countryside. He was fiercely competitive.
“He had a passionate affection for dogs and horses and he dearly loved his friends and family. He was incredibly fortunate to be associated with many tremendous human beings. He valued loyalty and integrity from all, and reciprocated in turn. He had a sharp intellect and an ability to motivate. He could be hard-nosed and gentle in the same instant. He dearly loved his family. He believed in people and did his best to surround himself with great ones. He made the people around him better.”
After Bear Bryant died, Moore raised money for the construction of the Alabama football building and indoor practice facility (now named for his teammates Mal Moore and Bill Battle, respectively). He advised athletic director Steve Sloan on the creation and inception of the Tide Pride donor program in 1987. He helped fund the construction and development of the Gene Stallings Center, which became the new home of UA’s RISE program in 1994.
Beginning in 2002, Moore served on the Crimson Tradition Fund Executive Committee, helping raise more than $100 million for athletic facility upgrades, including the expansion of Bryant-Denny Stadium.
He was a longtime member of the University’s President’s Cabinet. He spearheaded the creation of the UA College of Education’s Paul W. Bryant and Mary Harmon Bryant Chair of Excellence in Education, an endowment initially funded solely by Bryant’s former players (formally created in 2013).
A service for Moore is scheduled for Friday at Corinth Church Of Christ, 65-93 CR-15 (Country Road 15) in Bremen, Alabama, 35033. Visitation will be in the chapel at 1 p.m. with a service at 2 pm. A private, family burial will immediately follow in the adjacent cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Moore’s honor to the American Heart Association or the Crimson Tide Foundation.
