Son of former B-CU president dies at 84; will be eulogized on campus
By ANDREAS BUTLER | DAYTONA TIMES
(Source: Daytona Times)
Former Bethune-Cookman University head football coach Charles Wesley Moore, 84, died at his home in Houston, Texas on Thursday, Sept. 12. Known as “Wesley,’’ he was one of the most successful head football coaches in Bethune-Cookman’s history.
Moore also was the son of Dr. Richard V. Moore, Bethune-Cookman’s third president.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Sept. 28 at Heyn Memorial Chapel on the campus of Bethune-Cookman University at 10 a.m. In lieu of flowers the family asks that people donate in his name to Bethune-Cookman.
His brother, Attorney Reginald V. Moore told the Daytona Times, “My brother was a true believer in helping others and shaping young men. Coaching was another avenue for him to do that.
“As a result of his competitiveness and desire to help others, Wesley was able to be very successful coaching at Bethune-Cookman and turning that program into a winner. He had a great rapport with all his players. He was a very successful coach in a short tenure,” Reginald Moore added.
Wesley Moore led the Wildcats to the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) title in his first season in 1973 with a 9-2 record and 6-0 SIAC mark.
In 1974, Moore led the Wildcats to an 8-3-1 record and an Azalea Bowl win over Langston University 19-3 in Mobile, Alabama.
In 1975, Bethune-Cookman claimed a share of the SIAC crown with a 10-1 record. Their lone loss was to Florida A&M.
In his three seasons, Moore went 27- 6-1 with a career winning percentage of 80 percent (.800). He was the first coach to defeat rival FAMU in consecutive seasons (1973 and 74). The win in 1973 was their first win over the Rattlers since 1952. His 1975 team was ranked No. 1 in the Jet Magazine National Football Poll.
‘The best at finding and developing talent’
Larry Wesley is a former long-time radio color commentator for Bethune-Cookman football games and close friend of Moore.
“He was an extraordinary individual and a competitor in everything. Few people could have believed that he would lead Bethune-Cookman to three of its most dynamic and dominant years in the SIAC. I never knew a coach who could recruit like him.
“He got people to buy into his vision. I was a student when he was coaching at Bethune-Cookman. He gave the football program the sense that they could beat anybody, including Florida A&M. He expected the best of his players, and they gave him his best. He changed their lives in so many ways.’’
Larry Wesley added, “Moore believed and he had the power to make you believe that anything was possible.
He was a very gentle man when it came to family and friends but as coach he was like Vince Lombardi. I was thinking of him the other day.
“He was an iconic figure in this community. He did things that others only dreamed of. He was at Bethune-Cookman when race relations were changing.
He helped recruit white players and coaches. He was the best at finding and developing talent.”
‘Made men out of boys’
Others also weighed in on Moore’s impact on Bethune-Cookman, its football program, themselves and others.
Darryl Nattiel is on the CatEye Network’s broadcast team. He is also a Bethune-Cookman alumnus and former football player.
“Wesley Moore was the ‘Bobby Knight’ of HBCU football. He had temperament and was a players’ coach. He made men out of boys,” said Nattiel.
Lynn Thompson is a former Athletics Director of Bethune-Cookman and a former player of Moore’s.
Thompson reflected, “As a high school senior with several football offers in 1976, Coach Wesley Moore came into my home and promised me in front of my parents that he was offering me a life-changing experience to attend Bethune-Cookman on a football scholarship. That promise sealed the deal for me.”
He added, “Sixteen years later, I was honored to become leader of the program that he loved so much and led for 30 years. His impact on my life and so many others will never end. I am blessed to have shared these words with him two weeks ago when we spoke on the phone.”
Sean Higgins is a former assistant sports information director at Bethune-Cookman. His late mother, Dr. Cleo Higgins, was an instructor there and created the school’s seal.
“My father, Rev. William Higgins, was the football announcer (1970-1976). I was his unofficial spotter. I grew up around the team with coaches “Cy” McClairen, “Tank’’ Johnson, “Bunky’’ Matthews and “Shine’’ Wyatt. Moore was a respected and feared coach. I watched him move up the ranks, become the head coach and beat Florida A&M.
He added, “He recruited and coached some of Bethune-Cookman’s best like Randy “Sweetback’’ Walker. He led the school to a 10-1 record. He placed many athletes in the NFL. I remember a newspaper article about Coach Wesley Moore plowing through the SIAC with the wish- bone offense.”
Inducted into B-CU’s Athletics Hall of Fame
Charles “Wesley” Moore was born on July 22, 1940, in Panama City, Florida.
His family moved to Daytona Beach in 1947 when Dr. Richard V. Moore became the third president of then-Bethune-Cookman College.
Moore graduated from Campbell Street Senior High School in 1958. He accepted a football scholarship to Tennessee State University where he was a standout on the team (1958-1961).
After college, Moore took a job with the water department in Los Angeles.
He returned to Daytona Beach in 1966 to join Jack “Cy’’ McClairen’s staff on the Bethune-Cookman football team as an assistant coach.
At the time, McClairen also was the head men’s basketball coach, head football coach and athletic director. He decided to focus on being the basketball coach and gave the football coach job to Moore and the athletic director job to Lloyd “Tank” Johnson.
After Bethune-Cookman, Moore was head football coach and athletic director at Langston University in Langston, Oklahoma (1977-78) and head football coach at the University of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. (1983).
His career coaching record was 30-23-1. In 2012, he was inducted into the Bethune-Cookman University Athletics Hall of Fame.
He later became a church administrator where he worked until his retirement until a few years ago.
Along with his parents, Dr. Richard V. Moore and BJ “Beauty’’ Moore, he was preceded in death by his brother Richard V. Moore, Jr. and sister Rosalyn Moore Blake.
He is survived by his brothers: Dr. Gene Paul (Juel Ann) of San Diego, California; Reginald E. (Gwen) Moore of Daytona Beach; Dr. David (Pamela) Smithville, Mississippi; sisters: Dr. Elaine Smith, Montgomery, Alabama; Elizabeth Moore Johnson, Orlando; Barbara Moore Massie (Martin Williams), Las Vegas, Nevada; and other relatives.
