DALLAS, Texas -- Appalachian State University head coach Jerry Moore capped an impressive list of postseason accolades on Tuesday when he was named the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) 2005 Division I-AA National Coach of the Year at the annual AFCA Coach of the Year Dinner at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas.
A three-time AFCA Region 2 Coach of the Year (1994, ?95, 2005), Moore is the first mentor in Appalachian history to garner National Coach of the Year recognition. He also became the first coach in Southern Conference history to collect four conference Coach of the Year accolades when he earned the honor for the fourth time this season after leading ASU to a school-record 12 victories and its first-ever national championship. Moore?s Mountaineers capped the championship run with a 21-16 triumph over Northern Iowa in the national-title game on Dec. 16 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
In 17 seasons at Appalachian, Moore has compiled a 140-67 (.676) record. He is 167-115-2 (.592) in 24 seasons as a head coach, which includes stints at North Texas and Texas Tech and agreed last month to a multi-year contract extension to remain as ASU?s head coach.
Moore joins Penn State?s Joe Paterno (Div. I-A), Grand Valley State?s Chuck Martin (Div. II) and Wisconsin-Whitewater?s Bob Berezowitz (Div. III) as 2005 AFCA Coach of the Year honorees. The winners are selected by a vote of the active AFCA members (coaches at four-year schools) in the Association?s four divisions. The AFCA has named a Coach of the Year since 1935, making the award the oldest and most prestigious of all the coach of the year awards, the only one chosen exclusively by the coaches themselves and the only coach of the year award officially recognized by the NCAA.
With the honor, Moore has been invited to serve as an assistant coach in next week?s Hula Bowl. One of college football?s most prestigious all-star games, the Hula Bowl is set for Saturday, Jan. 21 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. The contest will be televised nationally on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. Additionally, the full-time assistant coaches on Moore?s staff at Appalachian will each receive a $1,000 grant from the American Football Coaches Foundation that can be used to further their education or professional development.