[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 113 (Thursday, July 26, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1338-E1339]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      TRIBUTE TO UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA ATHLETIC DIRECTOR MAL MOORE

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JO BONNER

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 26, 2012

  Mr. BONNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate Coach Mal Moore, the 
respected, longtime Athletic Director of The University of Alabama who 
was recently named the 2012 recipient of the John L. Toner Award from 
the National Football Foundation (NFF) and the College Hall of Fame.
  The Toner Award is presented annually by the NFF to an Athletic 
Director who has demonstrated superior administrative abilities and 
shown outstanding dedication to college athletics, particularly college 
football.
  For those who closely follow University of Alabama athletics, there 
is little doubt that Mal Moore deserves this tremendous honor. As 
Alabama's Athletic Director since 1999, he has guided the University's 
sports program to a new era of success, improvements to athletic 
facilities and overseeing numerous conference and national 
championships. This year alone, under his leadership, Coach Moore has 
been instrumental in the Crimson Tide winning four national 
championships in football, women's gymnastics, women's softball and 
women's golf.
  Long a prominent figure in the ``Alabama family,'' Coach Moore played 
quarterback under legendary head football coach Paul ``Bear'' Bryant, 
beginning in 1958, and was a member of the 1961 national championship 
team. A secondary and, later, quarterbacks coach for Coach Bryant's 
Crimson Tide, Coach Moore became a fixture on the 'Bama coaching staff 
until Coach Bryant's retirement in 1982 when he was hired to be an 
assistant coach at The University of Notre Dame. In 1990, he returned 
to Alabama to serve as offensive coordinator under Coach Gene 
Stallings. All total, Coach Moore has been a part of nine of Alabama's 
14 national championships.
  As Athletic Director, Mal Moore directs a $100 million budget and 21 
men's and women's varsity sports teams. His record of leadership speaks 
for itself. Since 1999, the University has notched countless NCAA 
championships and even more SEC championships. Also during Coach 
Moore's tenure as Athletic Director, the Crimson Tide football team has 
won two national championships (2009 and 2011), posted six 10-win 
seasons, a 5-4 bowl record, appearances in four Bowl Championship 
Series (BCS) bowl games and SEC championships in 1999, 2009 and 2011.
  Winning is not his only legacy; the face of the University of Alabama 
campus has also been transformed during Coach Moore's tenure with more 
than $200 million in improvements to the athletic infrastructure. 
Alabama has erected new stadiums for soccer, softball and tennis; new 
facilities for women's basketball and volleyball; a new golf clubhouse; 
and improved facilities for every other sports team, in addition to the 
renovation of the Bill Battle Center for Athletic Student Services, and 
Coleman Coliseum. In 2007, The University of Alabama Board of Trustees 
officially dedicated the facility formerly known as the Football 
Building as the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility.

[[Page E1339]]

 Coach Moore also oversaw the expansion of Bryant-Denny Stadium in 2006 
and 2009, pushing the venue's capacity to 101,821, which ranks fifth 
nationally.
  Mal Moore will be officially honored at the 55th NNF awards dinner at 
Waldorf-Astoria in New York City on December 4, 2012. He was elected to 
the State of Alabama Sprots Hall of Fame in 2011.
  Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the people of Alabama and the entire 
Alabama Congressional Delegation, I would like to commend Coach Mal 
Moore for his exemplary leadership and congratulate him for receiving 
the John L. Toner Award. I know Coach Moore's daughter, Heather, his 
granddaughter, Anna Lee and grandson, Charles, as well as his many, 
many friends and associates around the country share in this proud and 
well-deserved honor.

                          ____________________