Travis Moore, a two-time All Mid-American Conference performer at defensive end for NIU who has been the head coach at Dwight D. Eisenhower High School in Blue Island, Illinois for the past 12 years, returned to his alma mater as defensive ends coach in February 2019.
When Moore arrived back on campus, he was faced with the challenge of replacing a pair All-MAC selections in Josh Corcoran and Sutton Smith. Freshmen Pierce Oppong and Raishien Thomas asserted themselves in the six games that year with Thomas tallying 20 tackles, while Oppong amassed 16 stops, including 2.5 sacks. In NIU’s 2021 MAC Championship season, Thomas more than doubled his production with 48 tackles while adding 2.5 tackles for loss. Michael Kennedy earned third-team All-MAC honors in 2022 after tying for the team-lead in sacks with 5.5, adding 32 tackles and 6.5 tackles for loss. Thomas led the Huskies with 9.0 tackles for loss.Â
In 2023, Thomas led NIU with 74 tackles and 7.5 tackles for loss. He was the only defensive lineman in FBS to lead his team in tackles. Thomas was named the MAC West Defensive Player of the Week after tallying nine tackles in the Huskies' win over Kent State in the regular season finale. NIU's defensive ends accounted for 11 of the team's 23 sacks in 2023 as the Huskies led the MAC, and were sixth in FBS, in passing defense at 171.2 yards allowed per game. The Huskies were also in the top-30 in the nation in total defense and scoring defense.
As head coach at Eisenhower, his alma mater, since 2006, Moore led the Cardinals to the playoffs in six of his 12 seasons and was named the High School Football Coach of the Year by Prep Insight Magazine in 2017. Eisenhower won the first two South Suburban Conference Red championships in school history under his direction, in 2011 and 2015, and he had an overall winning percentage of 57 percent. Moore managed a team of 15 assistant coaches and had more than 150 student-athletes in the Eisenhower program on an annual basis.
Prior to going to Eisenhower, Moore spent one year as an assistant coach at Oswego East High School, where he was a part of establishing the school’s first varsity football program.Â
A native of Robbins, Illinois, Moore originally joined the NIU program as a walk-on for the 2000 season, but quickly established himself and started seven contests as a redshirt freshman in 2001. He went on to earn first team All-MAC honors in 2002 and 2004 at defensive end and finished his career with 146 tackles, 25 for loss.
A teammate of NIU Head Coach Thomas Hammock at NIU, Moore earned his bachelor’s degree in general studies with a concentration in English in 2004. He was a part of Huskie teams under coach Joe Novak that established the winning tradition that continues today.
Moore and his wife, Angela, have a daughter, Mya and a son, Travis Jr.
