After 28 seasons, Moore retires with 663 victories
David Moore leads a June 2004 FHS softball youth camp.
He made it official at the Lady Admirals’ postseason banquet Monday, June 4. His departure came as a shock to many in the program.
“I’m still competitive and I’m sure I can still coach,” said Moore, who compiled 663 wins in 28 seasons as Admirals softball skipper. “But I felt like it was time after 29 years in the program. I’ve been extremely fortunate and blessed to be at Farragut High School. I’ve had some great players.
“I’ve had great kids. We’ve had success, not only on the field, but I feel like I’ve had an impact on young lives and it’s all about building relationships,” he added. “It’s going to be different (next)spring.”
Guiding the Lady Admirals to a 25-8 record and District 4-AAA league title in 2018 — while almost always having his team in district title contention each season — Moore’s head coaching career began inauspiciously in 1991 when the Lady Ads struggled through a 5-21 campaign.
But things turned around in a hurry on the diamond for the Lady Admirals, who made four state tournament appearances during Moore’s career. He led Farragut to a third-place finish in the 2008 Class AAA State Tournament.
Though retired on the field, “I’ve still got two or three good years left of teaching driver’s ed,” Moore said after finishing his 35th school year teaching both driver’s education and physical education at FHS.
He began coaching softball as an assistant in 1990.
Moore also guided one of East Tennessee’s top volleyball programs at Farragut from 1987 through 2009, winning more than 700 games and appearing in five state tournaments during a 23-year head coaching career that included spans of district and region title dominance.
He’s made an impact all across FHS’s athletic program.
Moore began coaching in 1985, when he served as an assistant baseball coach under John Heatherly. He also coached junior varsity boys basketball.
“I started coaching baseball with coach Heatherly and coach (Herky) Payne,” Moore said.
“... This (upcoming school) year will be different. That’s for sure. It will be the first year that I haven’t had a team to coach.”
Moore’s impact on high school softball has been felt all across Knox County and East Tennessee.
New Knoxville Catholic head coach Lindsay Rakes had high praise for the longtime Lady Admirals skipper. Rakes recently took the head coaching job with the Lady Irish after facing Moore’s team during stints at Halls and Powell as a pitching coach.
“We played against coach Moore a few times and he’s a great coach,” Rakes said. “He was always very gracious, very nice and very kind.
“He always treated his girls well and I’m sure he’ll be missed.”
Moore said he would continue working with the selection committee for Farragut High School Sports Hall of Fame. He also said he would answer questions for the District 4-AAA coaches.
“I’ll probably keep working on the Hall of Fame committee,” he said. “And I’ll answer my phone for coaches when they have questions. I’ll probably mentor the new coach a little bit.”
He has recommended the school hire longtime Lady Admirals assistant coach Nick Green as his successor. “I hope Nick gets the job. He’s finally (teaching) on campus. He came over from Karns,” Moore said. “It would be a smooth transition.”
In addition to having more time to spend with his father, who lives in Chattanooga, “Maybe I’ll go see Bailey Young (former Lady Admiral standout). She’ll be playing down the road from there,” he said. “Then, I have a daughter who is getting married soon.”
