Tom Moore, one of the greatest offensive coaches in NFL history and the coordinator of the Peyton Manning's Colts offenses, is retiring after 62 years in coaching.
The 87-year-old Moore has coached in the NFL since 1977, most recently holding the title of Senior Offensive Assistant with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2019-2025.
Most notably, though, Moore was the Colts' offensive coordinator from 1998-2009, and a senior offensive assistant in 2010, spanning the entirety of Peyton Manning's career in Indianapolis.
"I really like Tom Moore's offense because there's a completion out there somewhere," Manning said in 1998. "It's up to me to find it."
Under Moore's watch, Manning found 4,682 completions from 1998-2010 with the Colts, building a legacy not just as a future Hall of Famer, but as one of the best quarterbacks to ever play professional football. Those offenses also produced a Hall of Fame running back (Edgerrin James), a Hall of Fame wide receiver (Marvin Harrison) and another should-be Hall of Fame receiver (Marvin Harrison), as well as a tight end whose name sits in the Colts Ring of Honor (Dallas Clark).
Between 1998-2010, the Colts finished outside the top seven in points per game just three times and outside the top 10 in yards per game only twice.
But Moore's impact on football reached far outside the influence he had on those great Colts teams of the 2000s.
Moore began coaching professionally in 1961 at the University of Iowa, his alma mater, and he spent most of the next decade and a half coaching offense at the college level between Iowa, Dayton, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and Minnesota. He got his first gig as an offensive coordinator in 1969 at Wake Forest and held that title at Minnesota during the 1975 and 1976 seasons.
His first foray into professional football came in 1974 New York Stars in the long-defunct World Football League. Legendary Pittsburgh Steelers coach Chuck Noll hired him in 1977, and he spent the next 12 years under Noll with the Steelers as wide receivers coach (1977-1982) and offensive coordinator (1983-1989).
From there, Moore spent four seasons with the Minnesota Vikings (1990-1993) as assistant head coach/QBs, assistant head coach/offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach. He then was the Detroit Lions' quarterbacks coach in 1994 and offensive coordinator from 1995-1996, then coached running backs for the New Orleans Saints in 1997 before joining Jim Mora's staff with the Colts in 1998.
By the time Moore (and Manning) left Indianapolis, he was in his 70s, but continued providing his wisdom across the league as an offensive consultant with the New York Jets in 2011 and Tennessee Titans in 2012. When Bruce Arians – who worked under Moore as the Colts' quarterbacks coach from 1998-2000 – was hired as the Arizona Cardinals' head coach in 2013, he brought Moore on to his staff as an assistant head coach and offensive consultant.
Moore and Arians were with the Cardinals from 2013-2017, and when Arians was hired as the Buccaneers' head coach in 2019, he again hired Moore – who was 81 at this point – to his staff as a senior offensive assistant. Moore remained on Tampa Bay's coaching staff after Arians retired following the 2022 season.
Over his 62 years in coaching, Moore won four Super Bowls and coached arguably the two greatest quarterbacks in NFL history in Manning and Tom Brady.
Moore in 2015 received the Paul "Dr. Z" Zimmerman Award from the Pro Football Writers of America, an honor which recognizes outstanding lifetime achievements as an assistant coach.
