Franklin County assistant coach Brandon Moore touches many lives in a big way
By John Herndon, 110forChrist.com
FRANKFORT, Ky. – For some, the mission field is a remote country marked by intense poverty. For others, the mission is located in a bustling city with gleaming buildings.
For Brandon Moore, the mission field starts on a field 120 yards long and 53.3 yards wide, continues on Wednesday nights and looks to bear lifetimes of fruit.
Moore is an assistant football coach for the Franklin County Flyers. Technically, he’s listed as support staff but regardless of his title, Moore is a coach.
“I am the head coach of the Franklin County Rams (a youth football team) and an assistant coach at Elkhorn Middle School,” Moore says. “Then on Friday nights I am in the press box. My job is to call what formations (the opponents) are in and after watching film, what their tendencies are. If they are 65 percent pass in certain situations, I communicate that down to the sidelines. I am always checking personnel.”
Before Friday’s playoff game, Moore was working with the Flyers’ special teams and following Franklin’s 12th consecutive win, others were seeking him out for a handshake or high five.
It’s called building relationships. And through those relationships, Brandon Moore is coaching life.
“The thing I have learned from him is that he loves the Lord,” says Franklin County linebacker Kaden Campbell, a junior who was credited with a pair of tackles in the 58-0 romp.
“I have known Coach Moore for the last two years. He is just a great role model for me,” adds fellow junior Christian Moore, who scored two touchdowns as Franklin remained unbeaten and advanced to the state quarterfinals for the fourth consecutive year.
Franklin is considered by most to be a serious threat to win Class 4A’s big trophy. The Flyers have overcome key graduation losses from last year to win all 12 games by an average of 32 points an outing. They have allowed only 14 points and have recorded three shutouts in their last five games.
“I am confident in our guys and we are confident in each other,” says Christian Moore, a 6-foot, 215-pound bruiser who leads Franklin with 828 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns on the year.
As the role model over the last two years, Coach Moore has taken that role model even higher through Bible Study and fellowship time designed for football teams. It started in 2022 with the Rams, but has spread to the middle school and high school programs at Franklin. After Moore shared his idea with head coach Eddie James, the coaches met with the school administration to make sure all was done in accordance to state and local guidelines.
“It’s all voluntary and after (school and practice) hours,” Moore explains. “It’s just an open invitation.”
The format is simple. After Wednesday’s practice concludes at 6 p.m., Forks of Elkhorn Baptist Church, where Coach Moore is a member, utilizes a pair of 14-seat busses to provide transportation to those who wish to participate. The church provides a meal and a time of relaxation and fellowship with other youth of the church. “It’s just 15-20 minutes to hang out with other kids,” Moore said.
Forks of Elkhorn student pastor J.T. Coleman has been leading the studies, recently focusing on the “7 C’s of the Bible,” according to Moore. “He has been taking them from creation to consummation.”
Some of the Flyer players appreciate the support and teaching available between their Sunday services. “I think it is very important. It’s my inspiration,” said Christian Moore, who is an active member of First Corinthian Baptist Church in Frankfort.
And it has reminded Campbell, who is a part of the Capital City Christian Church youth group, of the need to pursue God’s will every day. “You have to read (the Bible) on your own,” he said.
Those are the attitudes Coach Moore has sought to develop. Concerned by the pressures Satan puts on young people today, Moore wanted to act. A 2002 graduate of Franklin County, Moore went on to play football at Kentucky State University, where he was a long-snapper. He’s stayed around the program as much as he could while also working for the Frankfort Plant Board. He plans to remain on the Flyer staff for many years to come.
“When you are in a football locker room, you hear a lot of different things,” he said.
And reflecting on what he’d observed, Brandon Moore felt a burning desire to use his position as a football coach to help kids stay on the right path. The enthusiasm for the Bible Study program has been apparent from the outset.
“The first week that we did it, it was that part of the summer when we had the really hot temperatures,” Coach Moore recalls. “That really threw a wrench into everybody’s plans. Some of the high school guys were practicing in the morning, so we were thinking it was not going to be much of a turnout. We had about 25 or 30 that first time.
“After that, Christian came up to me and said, ‘Coach, by week three we will have these busses full. In week two, we had the busses full and had to make two trips between the field house and the church to get all the kids out there.”
It was all because of kids telling other kids. Currently, about 50 young people are taking part, although the number has reached 65 or more on occasion.
The high number of youth choosing to participate underscores both the thirst for the gospel and the need for its spread in the world today. The need is great in Europe or Asia. And the need is great in Frankfort, Kentucky and towns just like it. Brandon Moore recognises that fact.
“You know, a lot of people have interest in missions,” he says. “At Forks, we have people that go to Haiti. But we have a mission right here in front of us. For my wife and me, this is our mission field.”
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