Former Appalachian coach Jerry Moore will be honored by school Saturday

Jerry Moore said he still wakes in the middle of the night hearing the words: “They want you gone.”

He said he has been haunted by that phrase, which he said was spoken by former athletics director Charlie Cobb after Moore was told he would no longer coach football at Appalachian State. Moore said he never fully understood who “they” were but did fully endure the pain of being removed as coach after 24 seasons.

On Saturday, he hopes much of the hurt will be eased. He will return to Appalachian State and will be honored before and during the Mountaineers’ game against South Alabama for his achievements at Appalachian and his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in December.

Moore, who was 215-87 at Appalachian and coached the Mountaineers to three Football Championship Bowl Subdivision national titles, ranks 15th all-time among NCAA Division I coaches with 242 victories in 31 seasons overall.

Moore, 75, still lives in Boone but said he hasn’t been back to Appalachian State since December 2012, when his contract wasn’t renewed.

He said he went back to work out in an exercise area soon after, upon invitation from staff, but “I got to the entrance lobby (of the athletics center), and I just couldn’t make myself go up there,” he recalled Monday, while traveling back to Boone from a three-week visit to his native Texas.

He said he tried again a couple of days later, but his entrance device wouldn’t unlock the door.

Moore will be back Saturday.

He said he wouldn’t have returned before, but things have changed. Cobb is no longer at Appalachian, having moved to the athletics director’s job at Georgia State, and there is a new chancellor.

Moore said he recently spoke with Chancellor Sheri Everts, enjoyed the conversation and agreed to return.

“I had mixed feelings about it to begin with,” Moore said. “But, besides my family and my spiritual life, Appalachian State is one of the highlights of my life. And not just my life, but for (my wife) Margaret. Our family’s life. We spent a third of my life in Boone, N.C., and coaching at Appalachian State.

“I have no problem, and never have had, with Appalachian State and football there. I love Appalachian, the people who worked there and the fans. I don’t know how we could have been treated any better than we were. Then, all of the sudden, the rug is pulled out from under you, and it’s been hard.”

Now, he hopes, resolution will come – although some of the pain of a contentious time after the 2012 season will no doubt always linger.

Cobb said then that he and Moore met after the end of the 2011 season and together decided that the 2012 season would be Moore’s last as coach. Moore contended that he never agreed that the 2012 season would be his last and expected that he would return in 2013.

Moore hopes that Saturday’s return will be a step to put bad memories of 2012 behind and emphasize great memories of what happened before.

“It’s behind us, and we’re trying to rise above,” Moore said.

This story was originally published October 2, 2014 at 10:02 PM.