The date was Oct. 22, 2025.

Tom Moore's Tampa Bay Buccaneers had just played a difficult Monday Night Football game against the Detroit Lions two nights earlier, but stressing about the 24-9 defeat was the least of his problems.

His wife of 62 years, Willie, suffered a stroke in their Charlotte, North Carolina home later that day. Willie would recover from the stroke, but after some tests, there was more bad news. Doctors found a tumor on Willie's lung, which would require radiation to treat. 

Moore's football coaching career had spanned he and Willie's entire marriage by this point, and though he was 87 years old and 16 years removed from his legendary career as a an offensive coordinator in the NFL, retirement was never in the cards. 

But all of that changed when Willie's health issues emerged. Just five days after the Buccaneers' season ended, Moore announced his retirement after 62 years of coaching. Forty-seven of those were in the NFL. 

"Your life changes, and so I said, 'Well, this is probably the end,'" Moore said at Iowa media day on Aug. 14. "And I didn't want to be, but you know, for 62 years, it was about me, and now it's about her." 

As the months wore on, the Moore family finally received some good news. Willie's body was responding to the radiation treatments, and the mass in her lungs was slowly starting to shrink. 

Moore was grateful to see his beloved wife improving, but not having football in his life for essentially the first time ever was a strange feeling. Instead of analyzing film, Moore was forced to stare out the window and "watch the leaves grow." 

Sensing her husband's desire to return to the game (according to Moore, she's his biggest supporter), Willie gave Moore the green light to seek another coaching opportunity.

That opportunity was a phone call from Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz. Though Moore is best known for his nearly five-decade run in the professional ranks, his football career began at none other than the University of Iowa. 

Moore played quarterback for the Hawkeyes from 1958-1960 under legendary coach Forest Evashevski. Iowa claims national championships for the 1958 and 1960 campaigns, and though Moore was the backup, the experience, along with his time playing for Don Taft in high school, led him to his passion for coaching. 

"Well, I want to be like them. I want to be a coach because that's who that's who helped me," Moore said. "So maybe I can help someone else and and be a father figure or mentor or someone that they can look at you to help." 

Moore began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Iowa before moving on to various college assistant jobs in the following years. The NFL came calling in 1977 when Moore joined the Pittsburgh Steelers as the wide receivers coach under Hall of Fame coach Chuck Noll. 

Moore won two Super Bowls during his stint in Pittsburgh, and by the 1990s, he was one of the most respected assistant coaches in the game. His most famous stop was a 12-year stint as the offensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts, where he developed Peyton Manning into a four-time MVP and won Super Bowl XLI. 

Moore served consultant for four NFL teams after semi-retiring from the NFL in 2010 - winning a fourth Super Bowl with the Buccaneers in 2020.

Coaching in the NFL and winning a Super Bowl may have been a dream at one time for Moore, but he couldn't pass up the chance to return to his alma mater.

He accepted Ferentz's offer to be a senior consultant and offensive advisor, where he can offer his wealth of football knowledge to an Iowa program that is looking to completely rid itself of its reputation for having a poor offense. 

"This is a dream come true. I could not be happier, and I'm glad that Kirk invited me back. That's a privilege. He and the team has made me proud to be a Hawkeye," Moore said. 

Not only does the job allow Moore to continue to do what he loves, the flexibility of a non-game day position will allow him to return home to Charlotte if needed to check on Willie. After moving 13 times over the course of Moore's career, she's staying put in her hometown, where her daughter can check in on her if need be. 

"Tom is an amazing person. He stands for me all that's good in football," Ferentz said at Big Ten Media Days on July 28. 

Like most football coaches, Moore developed a reputation for getting very sleep and being one of, if not the first coaches to wander in the office. 

But that was then. There's no way the 87-year-old Moore continues doing this, right? 

Wrong. 

Moore is still the first coach to arrive to Iowa's facility. He only needs six hours of sleep and is in the office by 3:30 or 4:00 a.m - a routine he's performed his entire life. Some candy from special teams coordinator Chris Polizzi's office does the trick, too. 

"This [coaching] is what I like to do. There's absolutely nothing about retirement that turns me up. Nothing," Moore said. "So this is what I want to do. I want to be here until they carry me out goose first." 

HawkeyeRoundtable is giving away TWO tickets to Iowa's season opener against Northern Illinois on Sept. 5! 

This is easily the biggest giveaway we've ever done on this site, and it's a great opportunity for two lucky fans to experience the joy of attending a Hawkeye football game at Kinnick Stadium. 

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HawkeyeRoundtable publisher Brad Schultz has covered the Iowa Hawkeyes since 2023. To send him story ideas, scoops, or criticize his writing, reach him at [email protected]