Robert Wayne “Bud” Moore, 86, of Seagrove Beach, FL passed away at his Bit and Spur farm in Lynnville, TN on February 2, 2026. He was dedicated, working 12 hour days, 7 days a week for the first 40 years of his adult life. He was extraordinarily generous, gracious, and thoughtful. He was loving and gentle. He lived to serve those with whom he was associated. He valued people over material things and did his best to surround himself with great ones. He valued loyalty and integrity from all, and reciprocated in turn. He had a sharp intellect and an ability to motivate. He could be hard-nosed and gentle in the same instant. He loved the field, natural beauty and the countryside. He was fiercely competitive. “Pop-Pop” had a passionate affection for dogs and horses and he dearly loved his friends and family.
Born October 16, 1939 in Jasper, AL, Moore was raised in the community of Bug Tussle and moved with his family to Birmingham at age 10. He attended West End High School, where he excelled in 4 sports, played in the Alabama High School All Star games in baseball and football and was voted “Sugar-Coated Dynamite” by his classmates.
Coach Moore enjoyed an outstanding career as a collegiate football player and coach from 1957-78. He played football at the University of Alabama under Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. A three-year lettermen at end and tackle, the 6’4” 187 lb. Moore played in the inaugural Liberty Bowl in 1959 and in the Bluebonnet Bowl in 1960. He also played catcher and 1B for the Crimson Tide baseball team, earning letters in 1959-60 alongside his brother (the late Gordon “Lefty” Moore).
After coaching a year at Gadsden High School (where he taught algebra), Moore was named offensive line coach under Charlie Bradshaw at the University of Kentucky. Only 22, Moore tutored All-Americans Sam Ball, Tom Hutchison and Herschel Turner before being hired as head offensive coach by Coach Gene Stallings at Texas A&M in 1965. While helping the Aggies to the Southwest Conference title in 1967, Moore coached All American Mo Moorman and SWC Player of the Year Ed Hargett as A&M defeated Alabama and Coach Bryant in the Cotton Bowl.
In 1971 Moore joined Bill Dooley at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He helped lead the Tar Heels to their first outright Atlantic Coast Conference championship.. Incredibly, four UNC offensive lineman were named to the All-ACC first team (including All American Ron Rusnak) as the Tar Heels earned a Gator Bowl bid against Dooley’s brother, Vince, and Georgia.
Moore was hired by Alabama after the 1971 season and coached for the Crimson Tide from 1972-74, serving as Bryant’s first offensive coordinator in 1974. During his tenure, UA lost one regular season game (the infamous 17-16 loss to Auburn in 1972), played in the Cotton, Sugar and Orange Bowls and won 3 consecutive Southeastern Conference championships and the 1973 UPI national title.
He served as the head coach at the University of Kansas from 1975 to 1978. In his first season in 1975, Moore was named Big Eight Coach of the Year.
At age 40, Moore left coaching and purchased the Miller Beer distributorship in the Florida panhandle. Surrounding himself with top-notch people, as President and principal shareholder he oversaw Gator Distributors’ development as it became one of the nation’s top-performing beer wholesalers. From its base in Pensacola, Gator was awarded Miller Masters status and earned the highest market share of any Miller distributor in the state for 7 consecutive years.
After 22 years, Moore sold the distributorship. While continuing to invest in various businesses (Dreamland BBQ, Chevrolet and Nissan dealerships) he focused his interest on Shell Creek Plantation near Catherine, AL. His pride and joy, and at 5000 acres one of the state’s largest contiguous privately-owned properties, Moore developed Shell Creek into Alabama’s premier quail plantation. One of the few remaining locations in Alabama with coveys of wild birds, it hosted many field trials including the annual U.S. Open Field Trial Championship.
Always a competitor, Moore raised championship field trial bird dogs. His pointer Shell Creek Dan was Purina’s Top Field Trial Bird Dog for 1997-1998 and Shell Creek Coin won the National Free-For-All Championship and the National Championship at Ames Plantation in 2006.
Moore also prominently competed showing horses at the annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration in Shelbyville. He owned multiple World Grand Champions (often shown by his wife and expert horsewoman Suzanne). He was an avid supporter of mounted fox hunting and he and Suzanne were actively involved in the Hillsboro Hounds hunt club, often hosting club gatherings.
Moore’s impact on his beloved UA and Crimson Tide athletics extended well beyond his playing and coaching days. With an emphasis on what he called “giving back,” he quietly devoted countless hours, as well as substantial financial resources, wisdom and experience to the institution and its people.
After Coach Bryant’s passing, Moore helped fund the construction of the UA football building and indoor practice facility (now named for his teammates Mal Moore and Bill Battle, respectively). He advised athletic director Steve Sloan on the creation and inception of the Tide Pride donor program in 1987. He helped fund the construction and development of the Stallings Center, which became the new home of UA’s RISE program in 1994. One of his proudest achievements was being named the fourth recipient of the Paul W. Bryant Alumni-Athlete Award in 1995. He was a longtime member of the University’s President’s Cabinet. He spearheaded the creation of the UA College of Education’s Paul W. Bryant and Mary Harmon Bryant Chair of Excellence in Education, an endowment initially funded solely by Coach Bryant’s former players (formally creat. At the time of his passing, Moore was a Legacy member of UA athletics’ Lifetime Giving Society and continued to serve on the Crimson Tide Foundation board. Moore is also a member of the Kansas University Athletics Hall of Fame and in 2019 was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
He was preceded in death by his mother, Avis Roberts Moore, his father, Marrell Moore, both of Gulf Breeze, FL and his brother Gordon M. Moore of Pensacola. He is survived by his beloved wife, Nancy Suzanne Peters Moore, his adored sister Brenda Moore Day (Gordon) of Huntsville, AL, his dear friend of 70 years and sister-in-law, Janet Alvis Moore, of Pensacola, his son, Matt Moore (Allison) of Birmingham, his daughter, Kimberly Vann of Tuscaloosa, his step-daughter, Kaitlin Kyle Burns of Inlet Beach, FL, and his grandchildren, Matt Moore, Jr. (Eliza) of Colorado Springs, CO, Caroline Moore of Birmingham, Elizabeth Vann of Birmingham, his step-grandchildren Dorothy Dillard Burns and William Loomis Burns V, of Inlet Beach, FL.
A service took place Friday, February 6 at Corinth Church Of Christ, Bremen, AL, with visitation in the chapel at 1pm and a service at 2 pm. A private, family burial followed in the adjacent cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the American Heart Association or the Crimson Tide Foundation in Bud’s honor.
