The Bryan Moore Era Begins

Opelika Head Football Coach Bryan Moore talks his first few weeks on the job and what plans he has for the Opelika Football program. Also offseason workouts and spring football plans.

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
This it's the Coach Brian Moore Showwith Opa like I had football coach Brian
Moore and now with Coach Moore,the voice of the Bulldogs Man Wregs.
We're excited you're with us here atthe very first Brian Moore Show being rigged
alongside Coach Brian Moore and coach Let'sget right to it. Been a hectic

(00:23):
schedule since you got here, whatthe beginning of the year, but I
know the announcement came a little before, uh, you know, right during
the Christmas holidays. Everything kind ofgot thrown in a loop for you.
It's been a whirlwind, but it'sbeen really fun. It's been uh,
you know, relationships that from thepast, to see people old friends and
colleagues and administrators and even former players. You know, it's been just a

(00:44):
blessing to be back. And youknow, we're just excited. I mean,
it's it is a lot, youknow at the beginning where you're trying
to, you know, make sureyou have all the right pieces in place,
and uh, but the priority isabout the kids. The priority is
getting them going. Uh. Youknow, kids need you know, smooth
transitions. They need to get backto work. And business as usual and
we've been able to do that,so just really excited to be here.

(01:07):
Tell us about the Brian Moore family. You're no stranger to the area.
Then hear your families here, bothfamilies, your wife's families here as well.
But tell us about your family.And for folks that don't know much
about the Moores, yeah, wellwe have my wife, Lindsay, and
I have three boys, Parker's thirteen, Baker's ten, and Tucker's seven,
and you know, they're all activeand we're sort of a house divided,
I guess right now. My wifeand two youngest are in Hertzell finishing up

(01:32):
you know, the school year.It's hard to transition little guys. But
my oldest, Parker's at the middleschool. He's wrestled in his first wrestling
match and with the middle school.I appreciate them, coach Smyth and all
those guys for allowing us to gethim involved quickly. I think that helps
kids, you know, in thetransition. My mom and dad are in
Valley, my sister, brother inlaw, my niece and nephew are there
and been able to eat dinner withthem some and spend some time with them.

(01:55):
It's been really cool. And thenof course my mother in law is
in Heartzell. She'll be moving backto Opelikah somewhere and so we'll be looking
for her a place and us aplace. And you know it's UH,
I tell you opal like has changeda lot in a in a good way.
You know, the UH Mayor Fullerand all the city council and everybody,
you know, Eddie Smith and allthe people involved have done such a

(02:15):
great job with building this place.You know, we left nine years ago
and it's changed tremendously, even theresidential piece, you know, going through
UH the sportsplex area and just seeingall the new houses and it's just an
exciting time. And that was kindof the draw for us, his first
home and a place that you know, I got my start and you know
where my mentors, you know,Coach black Men and coach McCracken were and

(02:38):
UH and then even some of thecoaches are still on staff that I coached
with. So it's just where youknow, God works in incredible ways.
And to get back here and toto finish, you know, my plan
is to finish your career where Istarted it. Not many people get to
do that and talking about your coachingcareer. When you started out here at
Opelikah, you were a young coachand then you really could gamble taking a

(03:00):
leaf at a young age to bea head coach. First job that you
fall and you made a couple ofstops since then. Yeah, cool,
cool part. I. You know, my wife and I are you know,
believers, and you know, wethink that happened. Things happened for
a reason. And it was funny. I was sitting in my classroom teaching
history. Doctor Seymore was the principal, and my best friend Brandon Johnson was
across the hall from me, andshe text me and she said, you

(03:20):
know, I don't know if you'veseen this, but you follow the head
coaching jobs posted and right below itas a bookkeeper's position. That's what she
did for at our middle school formister Yorke. And I said, wow,
you know that's pretty neat. Youknow that it works that way,
and so you know, we gotinvolved and we had had no experience.
You know, I had been twoyears with the ninth grade, uh,
and then six more years with thevarsity two is a tight ends full backs

(03:43):
and then forest coach Blackman's offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach, and uh, you
know, I felt like I wasready. I was twenty nine, so
that was early. I had alot more hair then, you know,
and uh, you know, justyou know, thought that it was time
and and it was. It wasa you know, sometimes you can jump
into a tough spot and you know, your inexperience can sort of miss lead
you into some bad positions. Andthat wasn't the case. And so took

(04:03):
that leap of faith, and youknow, we moved our family that was
only about an hour away, andit was a blessing. We you know,
built it indoor, much like oplelicas I had just you know,
we'd just finished with the building whenI left, and I don't know,
it just it's amazing, you know, the stops that we've made and then
you know, to end up backhere again is just a blessing for us
and just just proud to be here. A lot of people look at this,

(04:24):
it's a challenging job. Seven A. The region that that Opelika plays
in, you know what you're familiarwith it. What really attracted you to
come back and take on this challenge? Well, you know, they've been
competitive in this region. You know, I know the last two years you
know, didn't make the playoffs,but you know, those guys had done
a good job and it was anew challenge, you know, two years
ago, and you know before that, the six a run had been great,

(04:45):
you know for many many years leadingup some of the games I Lindsay
and I came to see, youknow, and you know, one heartbreaker
in sixteen, the the state championshipgame. But you know, that was
my desire was to get back toa place that I felt like we could
impact. Felt like, you know, the kids need us here, and
I felt like, you know,it's always been our calling to you know,
help more than just in the building, you know, to you know,

(05:09):
know where they live and know theirparents and you know, know their
situations, and so you know,we feel like we're that's what we're called
to do. And so coming backto Oplaika, you know, was was
seamless and just you know, everyobstacle you know, that that we could
put in the way, we justwe it was just not blown out of
the park, you know, itwas just we just couldn't say no.

(05:30):
You know, it was one ofthose deals. We were happy. Love
heartsel just a great place to liveand raise your family with great people,
great friends there took care of ourfamily, took us in, so that
made it really difficult. And welove those people and we hope to continue
those friendships, you know. Andbut coming back home, I don't fear
the seven anything. I don't fearthe challenges. That's the fun of it,

(05:53):
you know. I mean, youknow, obviously we want to win
a state championship here and I wouldlove to see that done. We've been
really close and I've seen it,you know, Tate, you know,
been right there, you know,four quarters away from one, you know,
in twenty twelve, and I wantto see that through. And so,
you know, but for us,it's more than that. Again,
it's we want to win championships,but we want to create championship people and
we want them to do right.And and you know, it's a testament

(06:15):
like for the relationships that we've beenable to hold on to. That that's
what we were about and still are. And you know, those guys came
to the meet and greet and Igot to see some old friends for the
first time in a long time.And I just went through Burger King and
picked up a burger because I'm youknow, my lunch is now about five
minutes long, you know, justrun through how fast can I get to
choose burger down and onto the nextthing? And uh one of what was

(06:35):
a former student at the window andCoach, I'm so, you know,
glad to see you, and youknow that just that means like I got
a son now he's seven, youknow, and I'm like, wow,
you know, unbelievable, and somany When I met the kids for the
first time, I said, Iguarantee you I've coached a brother, an
uncle, maybe even a dad atthis point. That's been almost eighteen years.
It's been a long time. Maybea dad at this point of one

(06:57):
of yours, you know. AndI just just just again proud to be
back, proud to leave this programa place again that that gave me my
start, and and want to seeit through to sort of finish the mission
that we all have here. Andwe're excited to get that started. At
least you're not to the point likeCoach McCracken where he gets sons and grandsons
confused. Now, so I betso wet. That's right. Well,

(07:19):
I know you were here when thefacility improvements got started with the indoor and
the turf and the jumbo trine.Now it's getting redone because now things have
aged out. A new turf,new lights, new jumbo trine, some
improvements of the endoor, some excitingfacility upgrades coming well, you know this
day and age, and really,you know, with the turf and everything,
you have about a ten year lifespanand the jumbo tron as we see,

(07:43):
you know, you can see physicallysee the you know, the issues
there now and that was like stateof the art when we first when Tracy
and those guys were working on itin Revel and everybody involved it just it
was it was Brad and everybody.It was just so nice, you know,
and doctor Neighbors had that done andyou know, we were running and
replace and I was, oh mygosh, you know, this is so
cool, you know, and beingable to run commercials and raise money you

(08:05):
know, in through that avenue aswell. It was just a blessing to
have. But it's time, youknow, walked out on the turf the
first day I was back, andyou know, some ruts in it and
it's kind of hard now and patand matted down, and it was time
and the indoors the same way,you know, where we you know,
drop some weight and stuff like that, it's uh, you know, it's
time to fix it up. SoI appreciate that very much. Appreciate our
city, you know, and ourand our Board of Education and superintendent for

(08:26):
pouring back into that. I don'twant to say this wrong way, but
it is an arms race now,you know, in a in a way
like you're trying to stay. Whenthis building was built, when Coach Blackman
and de Mark and everybody involved gotthat stuff done, you know, this
building was state of the art,in the top of the line in the
state of all everybody's got one now, yes, and and credit doctor neighbors

(08:48):
too for that as well. Buteverybody's got one. We have to continue
to grow and you see it incollege football, but you see it in
seven A high school football at thislevel in the state of Alabama too.
So we are blessed to have thebuilding. I want to mention Kenny Prescott
too and his staff, you know, for keeping that thing. It smells
great, you know you walk throughit. All locker rooms don't smell great,
you know, And uh, they'vebeen able to keep things up.
You know, everything's functioning and youknow, new lighting in there and all

(09:09):
that deal. You know, Ido want to add some graphics and do
some stuff to honor guys like WillHearing, you know, and Corey at
Corey Grant and some of the guysTommy Jackson that played and uh, you
know, guys like Steven Roberts andthose guys you know that you know play
college football and I want to addsome of that stuff to bring those guys
back in sort of a legacy typething. And but it's a really cool
building and we're blessed to have somethinglike that. Yeah, how many programs

(09:31):
have had eight or nine NFL playersno to come out and do something huge,
no doubt. And it gives ourkids something to you know, to
dream, you know, and towant to accomplish themselves. And and not
just you know NFL guys, butyou know, you know outstanding you know,
accomplished people you know in our communityand anyway, I just I'm excited
about that and excited to add someof that to it. Workouts going on

(09:52):
right now, I know, leadinginto spring, it'll be here before you
know, a lot of plans.I know, the workouts are are going
are running right now, and thenyou're trying to work out you know,
made possibly a big spring game.Yeah, you know we're going to play
a spring game, and real closeto finalizing that. I really wish I
could I could announce it, butwe did finish our schedule first, and
that was really tough. It tellsyou a lot about Opalaika in that people

(10:13):
were not like jumping to play us, you know, and so it was
really difficult to schedule. We didfinish that up with a tenth game.
It was really Game five, butPike Road was the last domino to fall,
and we put that out on socialmedia and our kids were really excited
about it. You know. Itwas its quality opponents as usual. Our
region stay is really really tough.But yeah, right now, the first
step is get bigger, stronger andfaster, but not just that to pour

(10:37):
into them from a character standpoint.We'll start a book study next week.
Appreciate Miss Fisher and some of thepeople that helped buy those and a book
called Make Your Bed. Admiral mcgravenwrote that if you know people that are
listening, I would strongly urge youto listen to that commencement address to the
University of Texas that he gave.He's the lead Navy seal and wrote a
book that has basically ten principles init that we can all live life by.

(11:00):
And you know, the first principleis to wake up and make your
bed, you know, because it'sa task accomplished. So you have a
bad day, like we all do, you come home, bed's made.
You know, you accomplish something first, and that's how you started. You
know, you didn't push snows onyour alarm. You got up like you're
supposed to. You got a cupof coffee, made your bed. Here
I go to work and do mybest. And so we're going to talk
about that with our kids, youknow, because again I can't just say

(11:20):
that we want them to be championshippeople. You know, I got to
put money where my mouth is.You know, I've got to buy things
for them and have resources for themto help develop that phase of their life.
Because again, this is a shortdeal, you know, football.
I got them for three four moreyears, two one some of them.
But we've got to put them outin the world. And when I put
them in the world, you know, my name's on them. You know

(11:41):
who was your head coach. Youknow, who were who you were around,
who are you influenced by? Andif I put them out, you
know, as people that don't understandhow the world works and don't understand,
you know, the values that weneed, you know, then I failed
them and I feel that and ownthat, and I think, you know,
that's something that we want to doand want to be a huge part
of our program. And naturally,with that accountable consistent people, you win

(12:03):
games too, you know, andso it does go together. But we're
excited to get all those programs started. Strength conditioning gets first. And the
nutrition piece is huge. We're eatinglike crazy, Miss Elaine and our cafeteria
staff feed us. You know,we go eat breakfast after we left every
day, have a protein shape,go eat breakfast. The nutrition piece is
huge, The science behind it allis huge, and so we want to

(12:24):
we don't want to miss the markon any phase of our program. And
it's a little bit overwhelming right now, you know, to to you know,
what all do we need? Whatneeds to be the priority at this
point? But you know, forus, those kids are the priority,
that strength conditioning programs are priority.The nutrition piece and getting them going and
getting ready for springball. One ofthe one of the things I know that
has been important to you is tryingto work with the younger kids, maybe
at the middle school letter too,to be on the same page for when

(12:46):
they come up to see you,they're not in the in the complete dark
on what's going on. Well,I went and met with mister Yorke and
Craig Montail, the ad there,and Dustin Ferguson, coach Billingsley and those
guys and talked about, you know, the program and how we develop the
whole athlete regardless of sport. Youknow, what can we be doing instead
of just you know, shooting basketballor whatever, which is great too,
but MP can we left? Canwe can we uh you know, speed

(13:09):
train? Can we do some ofthe things. So those things. So
I wrote a program with their youknow, with their input, and so
they're going through that right now.And I know that because I have a
seventh grader Noah, hey, what'dyou do today? You know in fifth
period? You know, and uhso I'm really excited about that. And
we because we have you know,progression of teaching as we go through from
the time they're twelve years old untilthey're eighteen, and we want to have

(13:30):
a vertical alignment with our middle school. And I appreciate, mister Yorke,
there's some there's some resources we needto pour into that in regards to wait
racks and bars and stuff and nutritionfor them too. But and then we
got to be smart about that.You know. We don't want to be
playing basketball and back squad that dayand do something crazy. We want to
take care of our kids and winat everything, but develop them from the
ground up. So and then nextstep is the youth leagues. You know,

(13:52):
how do I get involved with therec the travel, all the youth
leagues that now sort of segment todayand to make a one you know,
and build that from the ground up. You know, what happens is when
you do that, naturally you getsome alignment with you know, verbiage and
what you run and your scheme andyour philosophy. But you also get you
know, understanding of who those kidsare and who that ten year old is

(14:15):
that's going to be your next reallygood player, you know, And it's
so cool. And for me havingtwo little boys, I'm going to those
games anyway, so I'm at thegame, you know, so I get
to meet dad and granddad and momand everything. And so it naturally gives
me an inside track to know whenthose kids and to understand who they are
from the time there. My youngestis in first grade, so from first

(14:35):
grade all the way up to theirsingers, you know, knowing those guys
and go ahead and build those relationshipsearly. And the younger kids getting to
play inside Bulldog Stadium on Saturday Morning. I know it has been imported and
I know it will continue to beimported. Those kids, boy, they
we were playing in Saturday Morning Leaguethis past year and they love it.
Can you imagine? And I lovemore stadium. I was right by my
house where I lived, But thisis different when you come in Bulldog Stadium
and you got the turf and allthat stuff. And then and then again

(14:58):
when you're not just me but staffand some of our players walk out there
just to say hello. I mean, I always tell our players, listen,
you have you might as well havea cape on. You are a
superhero. When my children come inthis facility and watch you live, you
are a superhero. And I needthem to understand, you know, to
understand like then I have to actlike that, you know, and I
have to carry myself, and Iwant them to get involved with those guys

(15:20):
and you know who is Malik Altromy gosh, you know, and those
guys and to get to see themand interact with those little guys. That's
very important too. But it's allabout uniting our community and then building it
from the ground up. All right, Coach of Spring, I know we
mentioned that look out for a gamecoming up sometime in May, probably May
sixteenth. Okay, that's when Ithat's that's what I want to shoot at.
That's a Thursday. We could doit the seventeenth, which would be

(15:41):
a Friday, but hopefully coach Blattand his group still playing then you know,
a Friday Saturday series and then trackwill be done by then too.
So talk with coach Johnson and kindof getting you know, hey, wins
the state meet and you know,hopefully we have a ton of qualifiers.
We got a lot of dual sportfootball track guys too, and so we
want that to you know, hopefullybe going on as well. Softball still
playing whole deal, but we wantto We're gonna play go three weeks,

(16:03):
ten days within three weeks, sowe can space it out lift between,
watch film between and really take timeand slow down. You know. Colleges
do that almost over like four orfive weeks now, whether they go like
fifteen or twenty days or whatever itis, and they space it out so
you can really teach. And becausethat to me, you know, I
think it's ludicrous not to do spring, like I know there's a lot probably

(16:23):
some of my friends that don't dospring right, but it is an extra
time to evaluate. Not only thatwell first to build your foundation of your
program, but also allows spring evaluationsfor colleges. I mean I've probably had
ten colleges through here in the lastyou know, through up like the last
two days. Because we have goodplayers, well you know, I need
those guys to see them on thefield in spring. And then our kids

(16:44):
to produce and earn scholarship opportunities inthe spring. So there's a lot of
great things. And then I likeplaying sort of a multi level spring game.
So play a ninth grade, playa JV, play a varsity,
you know, maybe a half foreach so that all of our kids are
getting reps. Then we can takethose reps and evaluate, and then we
can fix the issues in the summer. You know, it gives us sort
of an inside look at you know, is a kid going to be physical?

(17:07):
You know, Canny really run andcatch Kenny really run the ball and
take care of it. You know, can he tackle somebody? It gives
us an idea of where we areand then we can fix the issues throughout
the summer. Lose two teams fromthe region last year. Roberty Lee moves
down, Percy Julian moves down tosix A. Prattbull goes up to the
region with Hoover and those guys upnorth, and you bring in Carver Montgomery.
They just recently named Bobby Carr theirhead coach. Some interesting developments there.

(17:32):
But you're gonna start the season offwith an old rivalry and Benjamin Russell
a trip there, callaway here,and then right into the rivalry game against
Auburn. So a lot of excitementright right off the bat for you.
Yeah, you get your old check, that's right. Yeah, we're excited
about the schedule. I mean we'reexcited about obviously going to Ben Russell.
That was a game we always playedwhen I was here. You know a
lot of times that was a regiongame, but it was it wasn't always.

(17:55):
You know, they were between fiveand six, you know, back
then and the old six classifications,and then you know we were six,
and then you know, kind ofteetering on the line with seven. So
you know, not every year,but we played them a lot and close
by. Really talented team as usual. Coach Grider does a great job.
He was here many many years agoand I've known him for a long time
and does a great job in theCallaway here that's the one that they started

(18:17):
playing after I left. But italways made sense right to play Georgia a
border war type game, and tobe able to play them. And they've
got quality dudes like Tank Bigsby,you know, I mean they've got some
guys too, so and then ofcourse Auburn. You know, people,
why are we playing Auburn so early? Well, that's really out of our
hands. It's a region draw andyou know, so we'll go there.
But then Phoenix City comes to us, and so you know, we're we're
really excited about the schedule. Ofcourse, Enterprising Dothan are much improved because

(18:41):
Blackman does a great job at Enterprise, and then Dothan does a great job
too, So we've got to workcut out for us. Absolutely well,
coach, good luck for the restof off season into the spring. We'll
continue to do the Coach Brian MooreShow throughout the year and a weekly show
during the football season, so makesure and to tune in and catch it
right here and Coach appreciate it.Thanks so much. Man, appreciate you
guys. Thank you've been watching theBrian more Show.