How Wolfpack’s Isaiah Moore is learning the coaching ropes at Cardinal Gibbons High

On a Friday night last month, N.C. State linebacker Isaiah Moore had to leave practice early.

Moore hustled to the Murphy Center, got out of his gear and jetted to his car. There wasn’t even time for a shower. By the time he got to his next destination, Millbrook High School, he was probably still “smelling like pads.”

But hygiene wasn’t as important as his next task. Moore quickly swapped his Wolfpack practice gear for a whistle, some slacks and a polo.

He went from Isaiah Moore, the starting middle linebacker and co-captain for N.C. State football, to Coach Moore, the inside linebackers coach for the Cardinal Gibbons Crusaders, who were visiting the Wildcats that night.

This spring, the linebackers at Cardinal Gibbons (7-0) have had the opportunity to learn from the Wolfpack’s second-leading tackler and a player N.C. State head coach Dave Doeren called one of the best leaders he has ever had.

Moore, a communications major, picked up a minor in coaching. Part of the curriculum required a certain amount of intern hours getting real-life coaching experience. Naturally, Moore decided to coach football. Cardinal Gibbons High School is located directly across the street from Carter-Finley Stadium and a short drive from Moore’s apartment, which makes the transition from practice to, well, practice, easy.

He talked about it with Doeren, who then made a call to Steven Wright, head coach of the Crusaders. Doeren was very familiar with the program. He has a son, now a freshman at N.C. State, who played under Wright and his youngest son is a freshman at Gibbons. This was the first time Wright was asked to take a current college player on his staff, and he wanted to do his research to find out what kind of player he was getting.

“I was just like, ‘You’re probably getting the best leader I’ve had in my coaching career,’ ” Doeren said. “ ‘I’m not just telling you that, like the guys off the chain.’ ”

That was all the endorsement Wright needed. He set up a phone conversation with Moore and offered him two potential roles: One with the junior varsity program, which wouldn’t require as big a time commitment, or with the varsity team. Before they hung up Moore let it be known he wanted to work with the varsity.

This entire spring he’s been splitting his time between Wolfpack football, class and coaching the Cardinal Gibbons inside linebackers.

“Coach Wright definitely threw me right into the fire,” Moore said. “It’s not like I’m out there observing. I’m very hands on.”

On Friday nights you can find Moore on the sidelines, wearing a headset, sometimes with a whiteboard in his hand, going over assignments with the defense. When the Crusaders forced a turnover that led to a score in their playoff opener against Pine Forest, Moore raced to the bench to grab the turnover belt and brought it onto the field.

When linebacker Carter Scearce was called for a personal foul in the first half, it was Moore who pulled him to the side, telling him he can’t have penalties like that to hurt the team.

A casual observer wouldn’t know this was Moore’s first real coaching job. He looks the part (visor included) and is a natural when it comes to X’s and O’s.

“He’s been unbelievable, as advertised,” Wright said. “It’s such a unique situation for our kids because you have a starting linebacker, an All-ACC caliber linebacker, coaching your high school team. Obviously, he brings his college experience, he brings a knowledge of the game that’s certainly far greater than our kids have, and it’s really been seamless. He’s just been phenomenal.”

Turning into Coach Moore

Last season as a junior, Moore was second on the N.C. State team with 94 tackles. A captain who was given the honor of wearing jersey No. 1 this year (Doeren picks a player to represent the number), Moore is one of the most respected players on the team.

Over the years Doeren has observed Moore lead younger teammates through drills at practice and speak up whenever something needed to be said. He was a natural leader, but Moore didn’t know he wanted to be a coach when he arrived on campus.

He actually wanted to go into sports journalism, noting how he always looked up to Stephen A. Smith and the late Stuart Scott.

“I wanted to be on ESPN and stuff like that,” Moore said. “But then I fell in love with the game, but not just the game, the behind-the-scenes parts like watching the film and creating game plans and breaking down an opponent, all those aspects.”

Moore sits in on the coaches meetings at Cardinal Gibbons and when they break into smaller groups, he and linebackers coach Matt Gurdak have a special connection.

Gurdak, who played college football at Tennessee, was a graduate assistant at West Virginia under current N.C. State defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Tony Gibson. The first day Gurdak and Moore met, they were already speaking the same language.

“A lot of terminology I take straight from Coach Gibson,” Gurdak said. “His defensive schemes and philosophies, so when I’m talking that language it’s pretty much seamless.”

The drills Moore puts the linebackers through are the same ones he does now at N.C. State. When he first met his pupils, Moore introduced himself, talked about his experiences playing for the Wolfpack — battling injuries, being named captain, earning the No. 1 jersey — and built a bond with his new team.

A proper introduction probably wasn’t even necessary. Scearce knew who his new position coach was as soon as he walked up.

“I used to go to a couple of State games, and I would see him out there,” Scearce said. “It was fun to watch him. Having him over here is great because he’s taught me a lot of stuff.”

Through seven games Scearce is tied for the lead in total tackles this season. Moore has a quiet demeanor by nature, and doesn’t come across as a rah-rah, in-your-face type of coach. But he gets his point across.

“Very get to the point,” Scearce said. “If he wants you to do something, you’re going to do it, and if you don’t he’s just going to keep on telling you until you do it. He’ll see if you’re trying your best or not.”

Coach Moore is definitely big on effort.

“Big on running to the ball,” Moore said. “Big on physicality. I’m big on just playing the game smart.”

Coaching in his future?

Playing while coaching is a unique situation. Although Moore admitted spring football is a little more laid-back, which allowed him more freedom to coach, he added he has learned from the kids during his time at Gibbons.

Seeing the game from a different perspective has opened up his eyes and taught Moore how to simplify things and become a better communicator. He has found different ways to explain things so that people understand, which he hopes translates to him being able to help freshman teammates adapt to college football in the fall.

This new perspective has also given Moore a new outlook on his relationship with his coaches at N.C. State.

“I definitely apologize to all of my coaches for all the hard times that I’ve given them,” Moore said with a laugh. “It’s different being on the other side of things.”

Doeren and Moore constantly chat about Moore’s coaching experiences this fall. Gibbons, who played for the 4A state championship last year and is the No. 1 seed this season, is rolling and the defense has only given up 48 points in seven games.

“They are pretty good,” Doeren said before pausing, laughing and adding, “So he’s feeling pretty good about himself as a coach.”

Based on his experience with Moore, Wright would definitely bring on another current player. Obviously, he realizes it would be harder if the Crusaders were playing in the fall, but Wright feels like this all happened for a reason.

“I’m a Christian, unashamedly a Christian,” Wright said. And I have no doubt God orchestrated this for whatever reason. I think it was to give (Isaiah) a taste of what coaching is like and I think his appetite … he has a taste for something that he is going to pursue in the future.”