Moore Back on Grounds in New Role

By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — A decade later, his No. 32 Virginia Football hoodie still fits, and there’s no gray in his beard. Mike Moore’s playing days, though, are over. He’s focused now on teaching the game to a younger generation of Wahoos.

After seven seasons in the Canadian Football League, Moore returned to his alma mater this summer and joined head coach Tony Elliott’s staff as a graduate assistant. Moore, who turns 31 next month, is working with UVA’s defensive linemen alongside assistant coach Chris Slade (ends) and associate head coach Kevin Downing (tackles).

“He’s doing whatever we ask him to do,” Slade said. “I lean on him and I trust him, and he’s doing great so far.”

More than 20 years separate them in age, but Moore and Slade have a longstanding relationship. Slade was a record-setting defensive end at UVA, where his teammates included Shawn Moore, Mike’s father.

“Slade is like an uncle to me,” Mike Moore said. “I’ve known him for so long. And so it’s definitely just crazy how this football world works. You end up with people you don’t expect to end up with.”

Slade said: “I remember when Mike was in the stomach of his mom, Kim [Moseley]. I knew him before he knew himself. It’s neat because we go back so far and we’ve got so much history. His dad is one of my best friends. To watch him grow and flourish and to work beside him has been cool.

“He’s smart. He knows football. He had a great career here. He had a good career in the CFL. Football is football. The rules are a little different up there, but the fundamentals of playing D-line are the same.”

A graduate of DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Md., Moore has a bachelor’s degree in African-American and African studies from UVA. He wrapped up his college career in 2015, when he recorded 12.5 tackles for loss, including seven sacks. Moore worked out for a couple of NFL teams in 2016 but didn’t make their rosters, after which his father suggested he consider the CFL.

Moore signed with the Ottawa Redblacks in 2016 and helped them win the Grey Cup—the CFL’s Super Bowl—that fall. He later spent four seasons with the Edmonton Elks and one each with the Montreal Alouettes (2022) and the Calgary Stampeders (2023).

Most college players in the U.S. “don’t really think about [the CFL],” Moore said, “because everyone’s first goal is the NFL. It was definitely a different experience, but I got to experience so much, especially playing on different teams and living out there year-round. I had my children there, so we were living the full Canadian life.”

Moore and his wife, Stephanie, were married in 2016. They have three sons, all of whom have dual citizenship. Stephanie’s brother, Robert Bennie, played baseball at UVA when Moore was an undergraduate on Grounds.

“Her family moved here from Pennsylvania to be close to the brother,” Moore said. “She came with them, and that’s how we met.”

After he was named a CFL all-star in 2019, Moore worked out for five NFL teams, hoping he might be able to switch leagues. “It just didn’t work out,” he said, “and I just stayed in the CFL and became one of those top guys.”

CFL rules don’t mirror those of the NFL. Among the major differences: There are 24 players on the field on each play—12 on each team—and offenses have only three downs to get a first down. Moreover, there are no fair catches on punt returns, and the CFL field is longer and wider than that of the NFL.

For defensive linemen, though, the CFL rulebook wasn’t radically different, Moore said. “Actually, I liked it, just because the tempo is so fast and they want so many touchdowns. It’s just straight pass-rush all game for a defensive lineman.”

Many of the American players in the CFL return to the United States in the offseason, but Moore and his wife chose to keep the family in Canada.

“We probably should have [headed south] after being in that cold,” Moore said, laughing. “But we were just so comfortable. My wife had friends. My kids were going to school out there, and we didn’t want to uproot them.”

As his playing career went on, Moore began contemplating what would come next. He was interested in coaching but, after his final CFL season, decided to take a break from football, “just because I wanted to experience different things,” Moore said.

By then based in Raleigh, N.C., he worked in sales and business for a while but found he missed football. Moore had interviewed after the 2022 season with UVA head coach Tony Elliott, who was looking to hire a director of engagement for the program. Elliott ended up choosing another candidate but urged Moore to stay in touch. “He was like, ‘Even if that job doesn’t work out, maybe something later down the road will,’ ” Moore recalled.

That time came this summer. Moore worked briefly as a scout in head coach Mack Brown’s football program at North Carolina, but he couldn’t pass up an opportunity to return to UVA.

“Coach Elliott called and offered me the chance to coach,” Moore said, “and I hopped right on it.”

His son “loves football,” Shawn Moore said, “and I think it’s a great transition opportunity for someone who’s been playing pro ball for the last seven years. He’s back around football, he knows the X’s and O’s. He’s a student of the game, so I think it’s a great fit for him.”

When the fall semester begins, Moore will start taking graduate classes in UVA’s School of Education and Human Development. For now, he’s concentrating on helping the Cavaliers’ defensive linemen improve.

“I feel like I’ve been in that situation,” Moore said, “and I just feel like I just want to help them. Then, of course, I also want to help my school out.”

Among the players Moore has been tutoring during training camp is defensive end Kam Butler, an All-ACC candidate who’s close with former UVA linebacker Chris Peace. When Butler learned Moore was joining the Cavaliers’ staff, he asked Peace about him.

Peace spoke highly of his former teammate, and Butler is equally enthusiastic about Moore.

“It’s been great having him around,” Butler said. “He has a lot of expertise, just being in the CFL for as long as he was. He played here, so he’s really, really invested in us and invested in this defensive group.”

GAs are often assigned thankless duties, and “it’s definitely a transition,” Moore said. “Right now, it’s just a little bit tough, because I’m still trying to learn as much as I can. But I look at it as a good experience, and it’s only going to help me for the future.”

It’s important to Elliott that his coaches get time with their families, and that played into Moore’s decision to join the Hoos’ staff.

“That was probably the first thing I asked before I took the job,” Moore said. “I talked to Slade about it and I was like, ‘All right, Slade, I got three kids, and I can’t just leave them at home with the wife all day and never see them.’ And he was like, ‘No, you’ll get a chance to see them.’

“A lot of the guys on the staff have a lot of kids, so they try to make sure that they’re getting time with them. I see them all the time. That’s why I can’t wait until I get my kids here. I’m going to have them all over the place.”

His wife and their sons are still in Raleigh, but they’ll be joining Moore in Charlottesville this month. In the meantime, he’s been staying with his father, the UVA athletic department’s associate director of development.

When Mike played in Canada, Shawn Moore said, “I went up there a lot to see him play. I probably went up to four or five times a year, so I probably saw him more than any other family member. But now it’s awesome for him to come home at night, and we just kind of talk about his day. I’m enjoying it.”

Likewise, his son is enjoying being back in this college town. When his schedule permits, the younger Moore has been revisiting some of his favorite spots, including Foods of All Nations, where his standing order is the Henny Penny sandwich.

“It still feels the same,” Moore said of Charlottesville.

Not everything has stayed constant, of course. This summer, the Cavalier football program moved into new home: the Molly and Robert Hardie Football Operations Center. It’s a significant upgrade on the facilities available to Moore and his teammates when they played at UVA.

“I’m definitely envious,” he said.

To receive Jeff White’s articles by email, click the appropriate box in this link to subscribe.