By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
It was the worst of times. It was the best of times. Although the Dickensian attributes may seem a bit cliché, for the Tennessee Tech football team, the last four years have certainly seen its share of ups and downs.
Senior linebacker Aderick Moore knows that much for sure.
As he powers through his final campaign with the Golden Eagles, he's trying to head the team into the positive side of the equation – the team's 4-3 start this season already showing much improvement over the past two years.
But as the final five games enter the horizon, there's just so much more to complete. Tech head coach Dewayne Alexander has said countless times that the team's performance is good, but they want to aim higher.
To be one of those cornerstones in rebuilding the team means the world to the senior from Selma, Ala.
"We won a few games the first year, then we had those two tough seasons with 1-10 and 1-10 again. To be where we're at right now is amazing because we're trying to go do greater things," Moore said. "The guys have bought in. The team that we have – the guys who have been here and saw the good times and the bad – that's the biggest thing driving us. It's keeping us going at a high level, because we know we have a chance to change this program, to turn it around."
Moore had a solid start as a freshman in 2016 – Marcus Satterfield's first year as Tech's head coach. The rookie had 13 total tackles, collecting a sack along the way.
His breakout year came in 2017. With Josh Poplar sidelined for medical reasons, Moore made his presence felt. He ended the season with 95 tackles – 38 solo and 57 assisted, including 9.5 for-loss for 40 yards. He also broke up three passes, had two quarterback hurries and forced a fumble. Against Tennessee State, he had 12 tackles with five for-loss and two sacks, a forced fumble and a pass breakup, which led to his selection that week as the Ohio Valley Conference's Defensive Player of the Week.
Following that year, however, came a transition. With a 1-10 season in Satterfield's second year. The decision was made to change course, bringing former Golden Eagle player and assistant Dewayne Alexander back into the fold as the program's new leader.
Playing for coaches that went to school here, played on the same field as their players, such as Alexander and linebackers coach Bruce Hatfield, is special for Moore and his teammates.
"It helps out a lot because those guys know exactly what to do," Moore said. "They've been here. They've been in our shoes. They know what to expect. Because they played here and this place means as much to them as it does to us, they're going to pour their heart into it.
"It's their program as well. They want to see it turned back in the right direction just as much as we do. They're going to give their all just as much as we do and when they did when they were players. We just have to buy in and keep believing, keep trusting them and help lead the way."
To go from coach to coach, learning a different philosophy has certainly been tough, but Moore kept his head up with a smile on his face, serving as an inspiration to his teammates.
"It's very tough because every coach is different," Moore said. "Sure, the X's and O's are the same, but they have a different way of teaching it, a different way of how they want things done. You just have to be able to adjust and adapt. You have to find the way to play by their rules because if you don't follow them, you won't be here.
"It was a drastic change going from position coach to position coach, different defensive coordinators. It was tough to adapt to, but we've all made the adaptation. We're here and I feel a whole lot better about it."
There's a good reason for that – at this point last season, the Golden Eagles were allowing an average of 562.2 yards per game, 414.5 the year before that. Tech is allowing an average of 409.1 this season. The Golden Eagles have also allowed 96 fewer points than a year ago.
As a team, Tech has 19 sacks, five interceptions, eight fumble recoveries and 25 pass breakups – all numbers that are well beyond what the Golden Eagles had at the end of the 2018 campaign, much less at this point a year ago.
As last year's numbers suffered, so did Moore as an injury brought his production down in 2018. He started the first three games of the season, but after the injury, Moore came back in at spots, appearing in seven games, but not able to compete on the same level the year before.
"That was a very tough injury to come back from," Moore said. "It was more mental than anything. With any kind of injury, you still want to be out there playing, out there with the guys. Being hurt, I felt like I let my team down to a certain point.
"My teammates didn't want me to think like that. They kept cheering me on, uplifting my spirits. They said it could have happened to any one of us. My teammates did an amazing job of rallying me, keeping me level-headed and keeping me focused on being a leader for the team. They always had my back."
This season, through the first seven games, Moore looks like the one from 2017. He has 50 total tackles entering the Austin Peay contest, averaging 7.14 tackles per game. He also has a sack, two forced fumbles, an interception and a pass breakup with the opportunity for much more to come in the final five.
The proof that the team was on its way, even through all the tough times, was the Homecoming victory last year against Murray State. It was almost like an on switch for the Golden Eagles, showing them just what was in store ahead.
"That game was amazing," Moore said. "Murray came in as one of the top teams in the OVC and the guys realized that we can win. We didn't win any more games until this year, but it showed us that if we really work hard and just keep digging and digging, grind each and every day, we'll set ourselves up for a chance to win.
"We picked back up on that feeling from last year and that carried over into the game against Samford. A lot of our guys used that momentum and realized that, 'Hey, we can win.'"
Moore spent time with some great linebackers during his career, such as Poplar and Jake Warwick, and certainly learned some lessons along the way.
"The biggest thing I learned from them was probably how to be a leader," Moore said. "A lot of guys can talk about being a leader, but I've always been told that actions speak louder than words. Those guys came in here and worked day in and day out and were just hungry. Their senior season didn't go the way they wanted it to go, but they never dropped their heads or quit.
"Spending time with them outside of football, I learned from them that not only to have a good football team and get guys to play hard, you've got to build a relationship with them outside of football. I try to do that with a lot of the younger guys. At the end of the day, we're all that we have. We're in it for each other. They're only going to play hard for you if they really know you and know you have their best interests at heart."
That has transitioned now to where guys like Moore and Shannon Fayne are taking on leadership roles on the defense. To be one of the guys the future Golden Eagle defenders are looking to is humbling.
"It really means a lot," he said. "I don't take it for granted for anything in the world. A lot of guys come in looking for advice – not just in football, but also in life – and I have to be able to tell them about the situations that I've been through for my years.
"Nobody's perfect, so you've got to be able to relate to them. You try not to be so uptight or Mr. Perfect because you have to shoot it to them straight. You have to tell them here's what happened and here's what you need to do. You find ways to relate to them on a more personal level."
Moore continued, "It's not just in football though. Guys learn to trust you more, want to spend more time with you outside of football when you can talk to them honestly and see what kind of person you are. I don't take it for granted and I'm sure Shannon would say the same thing."
The start of the 2019 campaign has been a strong one as the Golden Eagles are on pace for one of their best seasons in some time, with the potential for anywhere between five to nine wins on the season – which would stand among the top 30 seasons in program history.
To be a part of that potential success, especially from where the program has been in recent years, means a lot to the senior.
"I think it means more to me from the player's perspective because I came in with these guys that I'm going out with, as well as the younger guys who are going to take it to the next level," Moore said. "This is something we've all built. We're out here playing for each other, for our coaches, for what we expect this program to be.
"We're not out here just going through the motions and these guys are really buying in and realizing that we can win. The more we buy in and look out for each other, the more time and preparation that we put in, we're just setting ourselves up for more success."
Moore added, "The biggest thing this program needed was to find the guys with the heart to win. With the recruiting class they brought in – and the ones still to come – they have found guys that want to win here and have the mindset to turn this program around. It's coming around with our leadership group – the guys that can talk to them and lead them along the way. These guys want to be great."
To get there though, to find that way to be better, it takes a lot of work and dedication, something Alexander certainly hasn't let his charges forget.
"It starts right here on the practice field, day in and day out," Moore said. "It's work in the meeting rooms and asking questions. It's work in the training room. We had a long stretch from the summer and into camp and we've got some guys banged up.
"It just takes a lot of time outside of being on the field for mental and physical preparation, as well as the work inside of the classroom because that's really what keeps us here. The season's going to have come and gone, but if you don't have the grades, you're not going to be out here."
Photo by Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
