The end of an era has arrived, not just in Tampa Bay but in the NFL world. After 62 years of coaching and more than 46 seasons in the NFL, legendary assistant coach Tom Moore is retiring, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reported Thursday morning.

Moore first joined the Bucs as a senior offensive consultant under Bruce Arians in 2019 and went on to spend the final seven seasons of his illustrious career as an assistant in Tampa. He began his career as a graduate assistant at the University of Iowa back in 1961, and now at the age of 87, he is walking away from the game.

As Stroud also reported Thursday morning, Moore’s wife, Willie, suffered a stroke earlier this year. During the 2025 season, Moore was away from the team for several weeks to be with her, and with his retirement, he’ll now get to take care of her full time.

“It’s time for me to go home and take care of my wife,” Moore said, via Stroud. “For 62 years, she made a lot of sacrifices so I could live a dream and it’s always been about Tom, but now it’s about Willie. It’s time. I’ve been fortunate to land in a lot of great places. This is a great place. The Glazers are fantastic owners. It doesn’t get any better than Jason Licht as general manager. Todd (Bowles) is great… It’s a tough business. I’ve been blessed.”

Bucs GM Jason Licht and senior offensive assistant Tom Moore – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Moore’s coaching career started in the college ranks before he got his start in the NFL in 1977 under Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach Chuck Noll in Pittsburgh. Moore was the Steelers’ wide receivers coach from 1977-1982, working with Hall of Famers Lynn Swann and John Stallworth, before becoming the team’s offensive coordinator in 1983. Of course, throughout these years, he also worked with Terry Bradshaw. Offensive coordinator was a position he held from 1983 through 1989. During those years with the Steelers, Moore was a part of two Super Bowl champion teams.

And during that time with the Steelers, Moore also overlapped with Tony Dungy, who would of course go on to be a Pro Football Hall of Famer himself after a head coaching career that was split between the Bucs and Colts. Dungy played for the Steelers in the early years of Moore’s time there, then he became an assistant coach on the defensive staff later in Moore’s tenure.

Tom Moore, Tony Dungy Team Up For Another Super Bowl

After serving as the Vikings’ assistant head coach from 1990-1993, working as the Lions’ offensive coordinator from 1994-1996 and spending 1997 as the Saints’ running backs coach, Moore’s next stop was Indianapolis. It was there where he played a significant role in the development of another Pro Football Hall of Famer, Peyton Manning.

Former Colts QB Peyton Manning and former Colts OC Tom Moore – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Eric Seals

Moore was the offensive coordinator for Manning and the Colts from 1998-2008. He got his start in Indianapolis before Tony Dungy arrived in 2002, but given their preexisting relationship as well as the success Moore already had to his name, it was a no-brainer for the longtime assistant to stick around when Dungy began his tenure with the team.

And while there was a lot of success for Dungy, Moore, Manning and the Colts over the years, their crowning achievement came when they won Super Bowl XLI over the Bears. That was Moore’s third Super Bowl victory, but it wasn’t his last.

He would serve as the Colts’ senior offensive coordinator in 2009 and then worked as a senior offensive assistant and consultant in 2010 before moving on to the next stop of his career.

After working as a consultant with the Jets in 2011 and the Titans in 2012, it was time for a reunion with another coach he previously worked with.

Tom Moore Join’s Bruce Arians’ Staff In Arizona

When Bruce Arians became the Cardinals’ head coach in 2013, Tom Moore’s next stop in his coaching career became clear. Arians had served as the Colts’ quarterbacks coach on Moore’s offensive staff from 1998-2000, and once he got his first full-time head coaching job in the NFL, it was a full circle moment to have Moore reunite with him on his staff.

No one would’ve known it at the time, but it was this step in his coaching career that would ultimately set him on a path to working with the Bucs over his final years in the NFL.

Bucs head coach Bruce Arians and Tom Moore – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

In Arizona, Moore was the assistant head coach and an offensive consultant, roles that he would work in from 2013-2017. Arians stepped down and retired at the end of the 2017 season and would spend the 2018 season working in television. And for the first time since the 1970s, an NFL season was played without Moore serving as an assistant on a coaching staff.

But that hiatus only lasted a year for both Arians and Moore, as Arians would come out of retirement and become the Bucs’ head coach in 2019. And that set up the final chapter of Moore’s career in football.

Tom Moore’s Time In Tampa Bay With The Bucs

Tom Moore joined Arians’ staff in Tampa Bay as an offensive consultant in 2019 and eventually had “senior” added to that title later down the line. After a year working with Arians and quarterback Jameis Winston in 2019, Moore then got to work with yet another Hall of Famer from 2020-2022. That’s because Tom Brady signed with Tampa Bay in free agency, meaning all those years after working with Peyton Manning, Moore would be working alongside a longtime rival, but also another legendary quarterback.

Bucs assistant coach Tom Moore and Tom Brady – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

In 2020, Moore was part of the Super Bowl LV champion Bucs team, earning him his fourth Super Bowl ring as an assistant. And even after Arians stepped down and retired again after the 2021 season, he stuck around on Todd Bowles’ staff, serving in the senior offensive consultant role through the 2025 season.

Moore’s offensive insights and overall football experience weren’t the only things he brought with him throughout the course of his 62-year coaching career. He also had a way of forging strong relationships and bonds with players. Bucs fans will know firsthand that he and nose tackle Vita Vea created a fun bond over the years, and more recently, running back Bucky Irving was known to get to the building early in the morning to spend time with Moore.

That’s why it was no surprise that when Moore co-authored a book with the Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud, it was titled “The Players’ Coach: From Bradshaw to Manning, Brady, and Beyond.”

Over 62 years in football and more than 46 seasons in the NFL, Tom Moore coached plenty of Hall of Famers, forged countless friendships and touched a whole lot of lives. And now, his legendary, Hall of Fame-worthy career has reached its end.