Moran, "Uncle Charley"
(Charles B.)
Football
b. Feb. 22, 1879, Nashville, TN
d. June 13, 1949
Moran played football for the University of Tennessee in 1897, but left after one year to go to Bethel College, where he coached football as well as playing the sport. After graduating, he became an assistant to Pop Warner at Carlisle Indian Institute and played minor league baseball.
In 1903, Moran joined the National League's St. Louis Cardinals as a pitcher, but hurt his arm after appearing in just 3 games. He returned to the Cardinals as a catcher in 1908, when he played in 21 games.
Moran began a football coaching career in 1909 at Texas A & M, where he had a 38-8-4 record in 6 seasons while also working as an umpire in the minor leagues. He became a National League umpire in 1916 and left coaching until 1919, when he took over the "Praying Colonels" of Centre College. Centre recorded one of the greatest upsets in college football history in 1921, beating Harvard 6-0. Moran's Centre teams had a 42-6-1 record in five seasons and went undefeated in 1919 and 1921.
At Bucknell, Moran had a 20-9-2 record from 1924 through 1926. He was co-coach with Ed Weir of the NFL's Frankford Yellowjackets in 1927, but left after the team went only 6-9-3. His final coaching stint was at Catawba College in South Carolina, where he had a 23-10-5 mark from 1930 through 1933.
Moran continued umpiring in the National League through the 1939 season and he was chosen to work four World Series, in 1927, 1929, 1933, and 1938. He then retired to farming before dying of a heart attack.
Two of his Centre College players, Alvin "Bo" McMillin and Madison Bell, went on to become outstanding coaches. Moran had an overall college record of 122 wins, 33 losses, and 12 ties for a .766 winning percentage, 20th best all-time.