Joe Moore Award finds a permanent home in Pittsburgh
In Aaron Taylor’s mind, there are two appropriate places to display a trophy named after legendary coach Joe Moore and honoring college football’s top offensive line:
• The school that wins it, of course, should get to display the 7-foot tall, 6-foot long, 3-foot wide, 800-pound “behemoth.” (Taylor’s word)
• And, just as logically, it should find a permanent home in Pittsburgh. After all, Moore got his start at Upper St. Clair and coached Pro Football and College Football Hall of Famers at Pitt.
As a result, a scaled-down replica of the trophy was unveiled Friday and can be viewed beginning June 15 at the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum at the Heinz History Center.
“He really stood for the principles of toughness and teamwork, which is Pittsburgh through and through,” Taylor said Friday morning on 93.7 FM.
Moore is recognized as one of the great offensive line coaches in college football history, having spent 20 seasons at three schools while sending 52 players to the NFL:
• Pitt, from 1977-1985, where he coached College Football Hall of Famers and first-team All-Americans Mark May, Jimbo Covert and Bill Fralic, plus Pro Football Hall of Famer Russ Grimm.
• Temple, from 1986-1987.
• Notre Dame, from 1988-1996, where he helped Taylor and Andy Heck become All-American linemen.
“He essentially taught me I was capable of doing more than I thought I could,” Taylor said. “He was masterful at teaching us to push ourselves beyond our perceived limitations.”
“When God decided to create a football coach he created Joe Moore, then broke the mold,” Covert said in a statement.
Four years ago, Taylor, who played five seasons in the NFL and is now a college football analyst for CBS Sports, spawned the idea of an award to honor the nation’s best line and name it after Moore, who died in 2003.
It has been awarded every year since 2015 to Alabama, Iowa, Notre Dame and Oklahoma where the original trophy will be on display this season.
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Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
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