National Players of the Year Under Moorhead
| 2014 |
| Chase Edmonds, RB - Jerry Rice Award Winner (NCAA FCS Rookie of the Year) |
All-America Performers Under Moorhead
| 2014 | 2013 | 2012 |
| Chase Edmonds, RB - Associated Press (Third Team) | Sam Ajala, WR – Beyond Sports Network (First Team) | Patrick Murray, P/PK – Assoc. Press (First Team) |
| Chase Edmonds, RB - Sports Network (Second Team) | Sam Ajala, WR – College Sports Madness (First Team) | Patrick Murray, P/PK – AFCA (First Team) |
| Chase Edmonds, RB - Beyond Sports Network (Third Team) | Sam Ajala, WR – Assoc. Press (Second Team) | Patrick Murray, P/PK – Sports Network (First Team) |
| Mason Halter, OL - Associated Press (Third Team) | Sam Ajala, WR – Sports Network (Second Team) | Patrick Murray, P/PK – Walter Camp (First Team) |
| Mason Halter, OL - Sports Network (First Team) | Sam Ajala, WR – College Sports Journal | |
| Mason Halter, OL - Beyond Sports Netowrk (Second Team) | Stephen Hodge, LB – Beyond Sports Network (Second Team) | Patrick Murray, P/PK – Beyond Sports Network (First Team) |
| Brian Wetzel, WR - Sports Network (Second Team) | Stephen Hodge, LB – Sports Network (Third Team) | Patrick Murray, P/PK – College Sports Journal |
| Dan Light, TE - Beyond Sports Network (Second Team) | Mike Nebrich, QB - Beyond Sports Network (Second Team) | Carlton Koonce, RB – College Sports Journal |
| Brett Biestek, DE/LB - Beyond Sports Network (Third Team) | Mike Nebrich, QB - Sports Network (Third Team) | |
| Tebucky Jones, Jr., WR - Beyond Sports Network (Second Team) | Mike Nebrich, QB - College Sports Journal | |
| Mike Nebrich, QB - Beyond Sports Network (Third Team) | Mason Halter, OL - Sports Network (Second Team) | |
| Matt Stolte, OL - Beyond Sports Network (Third Team) | Dan Light, TE - Beyond Sports Network (Third Team) | |
| Brett Biestek, DL/LB – Capital One Academic All-America ® (First Team) | Dan Light, TE - College Sports Journal | |
| Dan Light, TE – Capital One Academic All-America ® (Second Team) | Brett Biestek, DL – Capital One Academic All-America ® (First Team) | |
All-Patriot League Performers Under Moorhead
| 2014 | 2013 | 2012 |
| Mike Nebrich - Off. Player of the Year, QB - First-Team | Mike Nebrich - Off. Player of the Year, QB - First-Team | Patrick Murray, P/PK – First Team |
| Chase Edmonds - Rookie of the Year, RB - First-Team | Stephen Hodge - Def. Player of the Year, LB - First-Team | Dan Light, TE - First Team |
| Sam Ajala, WR – First Team | Sam Ajala, WR – First Team | Lloyd Morrison, OL - First Team |
| Brett Biestek, DL – First Team | Carlton Koonce, RB – First Team | Carlton Koonce, RB - First Team |
| Jordan Chapman, WR – First Team | Dan Light, TE – First Team | Brian Wetzel, WR - First Team |
| Mason Halter, OL – First Team | Mason Halter, OL – First Team | Mike Martin, LB - First Team |
| Austin Hancock, LB – First Team | Tom Fisher, OL – First Team | Chris Watkins, OL – Second Team |
| Tebucky Jones, Jr., WR – First Team | Brett Biestek, DL – First Team | Nick Womack, DL - Second Team |
| Dan Light, TE – First Team | DeAndre Slate, DL – First Team | Ian Williams, DB - Second Team |
| Michael Marando, PK – First Team | Ian Williams, DB – First Team | Brian Wetzel, RS - Second Team |
| Garrick Mayweather, Jr., OL – First Team | Michael Marando, PK – First Team | |
| DeAndre Slate, DL – First Team | Tebucky Jones, Jr., WR – Second Team | |
| Matt Stolte, OL – First Team | Brian Wetzel, WR/RS - Second Team | |
| Brian Wetzel, RS - First Team | Austin Hancock, LB - Second Team | |
| Ian Williams, DB – First Team | Jordan Chapman, DB - Second Team | |
| Jake Dixon, DB - Second Team | Levon Williams, DB - Second Team | |
| Joe Mizera, OL - Second Team | Joe Pavlik, P - Second Team | |
| Joe Pavlik, P - Second Team | | |
| De'Nard Pinckney, LB - Second Team | | |
| Brian Wetzel, WR - Second Team | | |
As an English major at Fordham, Joe Moorhead surely read Thomas Wolfe’s “You Can’t Go Home Again.” But fortunately for Fordham football fans he didn’t take it to heart, as Moorhead returned to his alma mater to assume the position of head football coach in December of 2011 and immediately made a difference, leading the Rams to their best season in school history in just his second year at the helm in 2013 and the Patriot League title in his third season in 2014.
Last fall, the Rams built off their success from 2013, going undefeated in league play and winning the school’s third Patriot League title, the first since 2007, advancing to the NCAA FCS Championship and winning a first round game for the second consecutive year.
Like the 2013 squad, the 2014 version was headed by a high-powered offense, led by record-setting freshman running back Chase Edmonds, the 2014 Jerry Rice Award winner as the top NCAA FCS Rookie. The 2014 Fordham offense also featured seven All-Americans and nine All-Patriot League selections, including quarterback Mike Nebrich, who was named the Offensive Player of the Year for the second straight year, and Edmonds, the 2014 Patriot League Rookie of the Year. In all, the Rams set a Patriot League record with 18 All-League selections and 15 First Team picks.
The 2014 Fordham offense set school marks for rushing yards with 2,353, shattering the former mark of 2,162 set in 2013, and scoring with 569 points, surpassing last year's record of 526. Included in the scoring total was a school-record 31 rushing touchdowns. For the second successive year, the Fordham roster featured three 1,000-yard receivers and a 1,000-yard running back.
The Rams led the Patriot League in passing offense, total offense and scoring offense while on the national level the Rams ranked fourth in passing offense (326.1 yards/game) in the NCAA FCS and ranked among the top ten in scoring offense (40.6 points/game – fifth), team passing efficiency (156.23 – fourth), total offense (494.1 yards/game – seventh) and first downs (331 - seventh).
The 2014 Rams also performed in the classroom as two student-athletes were named Capital One Academic All-American®, Brett Biestek (first team) and Dan Light (second team).
After going 6-5 in his first year in 2012, Moorhead led the Rams to unprecedented success in 2013, guiding the team to a 12-2 overall record and an appearance in the NCAA FCS Championship, advancing to the second round of the championship for just the second time in school history. Fordham won the first ten games of the year for the first time in school history and was ranked as high as fifth in the NCAA FCS polls, Fordham’s highest-ever ranking on the FCS level. The Rams set a school record for most wins in a season in the modern era (since 1920) and accomplished a plethora of firsts, including the first win over an NCAA FBS team (Temple), the first win over a top-ten ranked NCAA FCS team on Jack Coffey Field (Villanova) and the school’s first ever home NCAA FCS championship win on Jack Coffey Field (Sacred Heart).
For his accomplishments, Moorhead was named the 2013 Patriot League Coach of the Year, the 2013 AFCA Regional Co-Coach of the Year and a finalist for both the Eddie Robinson Award as the NCAA FCS national Coach of the Year and the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award.
Under Moorhead, a former Fordham quarterback, the Rams’ offense led the NCAA FCS in pass completion percentage, was third in passing offense and first downs and seventh in total offense. Fordham also became the first team in NCAA history to have a 4,000-yard passer, three 1,000-yard receivers and a 1,000-yard rusher.
Inheriting a team that had gone 1-10 in 2011, Moorhead guided Fordham to a 6-5 record in 2012, the second-best turnaround in the NCAA FCS. The six wins were the most for a first-year Fordham head football coach since Jim “Sleepy” Crowley also won six games in his first season at Fordham in 1933.
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The Rams showed tremendous improvement on the offensive side of the ball under Moorhead’s tutelage in 2012, which came as no surprise as Moorhead was a record-setting quarterback at Fordham in the 1990’s. In 2012, the Fordham offense averaged 435.7 yards/game, second best in the Patriot League and 20th best in the NCAA FCS, while the Rams scored 31.2 ppg, second in the league and 31st in the NCAA FCS. On the ground in 2012, Fordham was led by Carlton Koonce who broke the school’s single season rushing record with 1,596 yards, leading the Patriot League and ranking fourth in the NCAA FCS in rushing yards/game. Through the air, the Rams had the second-ranked passing offense in the Patriot League, averaging 279.6 yards/game, 18th best in the NCAA FCS.
Moorhead arrived at Fordham with 14 years of collegiate coaching experience, most recently as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Connecticut where he coached the previous three years. He served as the offensive coordinator in 2009 and 2010, leading an offensive unit that was second in the BIG EAST Conference in scoring offense and rushing offense in 2010, as the Huskies won the conference title and appeared in the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma. Following the season, running back Jordan Todman was named Second Team All-America and BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year. Additionally, two other offensive players were named First Team All-BIG EAST with Todman (San Diego/sixth round) and Anthony Sherman (Arizona/fifth round) being selected in the NFL draft. In 2009, the UConn offense finished the season as the third most productive offense in the BIG EAST, second in scoring, and Moorhead was nominated for the Frank Broyles Award, presented annually to the Top Assistant Coach in the NCAA FBS. The Huskies finished the season 8-5 and defeated South Carolina in the PapaJohns.com Bowl.
Prior to his stay at Connecticut, Moorhead served as an assistant coach at Akron for five years (2004-2008), the final two as the offensive coordinator. In 2008, Akron was one of 17 schools nationally to be ranked among the top 50 in rushing offense (45th at 165.7 yards per game), passing offense (46th at 231.50), total offense (40th at 396.97) and scoring offense (36th at 30.0 points per game).
Akron was the most improved school in the nation in 2008 in terms of total offense and was the sixth-most improved in scoring offense. In the Mid-American Conference (MAC), Akron was third in points per game and turnover margin (plus 0.5) and fourth in rushing yards per game. In 2006, Moorhead was the Akron quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator, where he mentored Luke Getsy, who left Akron with 24 different school records. The Zips won the school’s first-ever Mid-American Conference championship and played in the Motor City Bowl in 2005 with Moorhead serving as the wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator. Current New York Giant Domenik Hixon set a school single-season record that fall with 1,210 receiving yards under Moorhead’s tutelage. Moorhead also has Patriot League experience, serving as an assistant at Georgetown for four seasons from 2000 through 2003, where he had stints as the running backs coach, quarterbacks coach and the offensive coordinator in his final year.
As a collegiate performer at Fordham, Moorhead was a three-year starter at quarterback and a team captain as a senior. He was a Second Team All-Patriot League pick as a senior, finishing 13th nationally in total offense, and graduated with school single-season records for completions and passing yards. Following his collegiate career, Moorhead spent time in the training camp of the Milwaukee Mustangs of the Arena Football League after playing the 1996 season for the Munich Cowboys of the E.F.A.F.
Moorhead, a native of Pittsburgh, received an English degree from Fordham in 1996. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children: daughter Kyra (13), son Mason (11) and son Donovan (6).
