It seems retirement is not a word Tom Moore learned growing up in southern Minnesota.
Tom Moore, at 82, is back at the Super Bowl with the Bucs
The Owatonna native, who coached the Gophers and Vikings, is seeking his fourth championship ring.
February 2, 2021 at 12:41PM
"Do I want to come back next year?" asked the Buccaneers' 82-year-old offensive consultant.
"Well," he continued, "I'll say this: I want to coach until physically or mentally I can't or until I die because there is absolutely nothing about not working that turns me on."
Born Nov. 7, 1938, in Owatonna, Moore played football at Rochester High School and the University of Iowa. He spent 1961-62 as a graduate assistant for the Hawkeyes and then served two years in the Army.
He got into paid coaching in 1965 and has continued to coach every fall except 2018. Add it all up and he has coached 57 seasons – 12 at the college level, one in the World Football League and 43 of the last 44 in the NFL.
And, no, the strain of coaching an entire year in a global pandemic has not scared or soured this octogenarian.
"In answer to your question, I've been vaccinated [for COVID-19]," he said. "And, yes, I want to come back next year and the next year and the next year and the next year."
Next up for Moore is Super Bowl LV in Tampa. The Bucs will face the defending champion Chiefs as the first team to play a Super Bowl in its home stadium.
Moore already has three Super Bowl rings. He won two with Terry Bradshaw and the Steelers during the 1978 and 1979 seasons. He won another one with Peyton Manning and the Colts during the 2006 season. And now he's working alongside another pretty good quarterback in six-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady.
"A guy doesn't have that much success like he's had over the years without being a hard worker, a quality person, a dedicated person," Moore said of Brady. "He just loves the game of football. I guess he and I really have that in common."
Watch Tom Moore's Super Bowl news conference here.
Moore had two stints at the University of Minnesota, coaching running backs in 1972-73 and serving as offensive coordinator in 1975-76, when Tony Dungy was his quarterback. The two would reunite in Indianapolis and win a Super Bowl with Dungy as head coach and Moore as offensive coordinator.
Moore's NFL coaching career began in 1977 with the Steelers. He was Vikings assistant head coach from 1990-93.
One reason for Moore's certainty about coaching in 2021 is Bucs head coach Bruce Arians' decision to return whether Tampa Bay wins or loses on Sunday.
Arians spent 1998-2000 as Colts quarterbacks coach when Moore was offensive coordinator. Arians had Moore on staff when he was head coach of the Cardinals from 2013-17 and hired him again when he got the Bucs head coaching job in 2019.
"It's fun coming to work," said Moore, who studies film for the Bucs and serves as a sounding board for Arians and offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich. "I'm 82 years old. Every night I go to bed, I can hardly wait to get up in the morning and get back to the office and go to work."
Defensive coordinator Todd Bowles also prides himself on being an early riser. But not as early as Moore.
"I get into work 4:15, 4:30 and I'm probably two hours behind Tom," Bowles said. "Tom has so much football knowledge and does so much film study, offensively and defensively. He'll pull me to the side and talk about red zone things and things he sees. He helps a great deal.
"And he might be the oldest guy here, but he's also the biggest prankster we got. He's hilarious, great to be around. He's always here and always giving us knowledge."
Mike Conley was in Minneapolis, where he sounded the Gjallarhorn at the Vikings game, on Sunday during the robbery.
