Updated Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008

App State's upset not biggest event of day

By Steve DeVane

BR Managing Editor

GREENSBORO - Some sports analysts called Appalachian State University's (ASU) 34-32 win over Michigan in September the greatest upset ever. For ASU football coach Jerry Moore, it wasn't even the most important thing that happened that day.

As Moore completed his remarks at the Baptist State Convention's Evangelism and Church Growth Conference, he took off his national championship ring and tossed it to Joe Giaritelli, pastor of host Lawndale Baptist Church.

"That don't mean one thing," he said.

Moore then unrolled a poster showing what he said was more important, the ASU players kneeling in prayer as 100,000 people watched.

"More than anything else, share Jesus Christ," he said.

Moore, who is a member of Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Boone, has led his team to three straight national championships. In January, he became the first Division 1 coach to win three straight American Football Coaches Association Coach of the Year awards.

At the conference, Moore talked a lot about how Christian speakers had positively influenced his team. He told about how 57 players and one coach made decisions for Christ at one such meeting and 18 players made decisions at another.

Moore's players have Bible study on Wednesday nights. The coaches meet on those days for devotions.

"Only two things are important - God's word and the souls of men and women," he said.

Moore said ministers and coaches are similar because neither wants to tolerate failure.

"You don't accidentally win championships," he said.

Men and women can decide what type of people they want to be, Moore said.

"You've got a choice in being successful," he said. "You've got a choice in your life."

Moore said he always wanted to be a coach, even when he was a high school freshman on a team that won no games and lost 10.

"If we won the coin toss we celebrated," he said. "We had homecoming and we were tickled that our gal won."

Moore was an assistant coach early in his career, and later was head coach at North Texas and Texas Tech. He left the profession for 18 months, spending most of his time playing golf while helping recruit developers and making more money than he ever had in coaching.

"I literally cried myself to sleep at night," he said. "I was miserable."

Moore's wife, Margaret, told him that if he wasn't happy, he should get back in coaching. He became a volunteer coach at Arkansas and when the team won the Southeastern Conference championship, ASU called.

Moore called it his "last chance" in coaching.

In 19 years, Moore has a 167-70 record at the school. He is the winningest coach in Southern Conference history.

"If you give the best you've got and that's all you've got, God will bless it," he said. "If you've got talent and you're not using it, you're missing the call."