It has been quite the career for Lee Moon, who has spent a whopping 55 years in college athletics. The pioneer of UNF athletics recently announced his retirement after 12 years of service at the university.

Taking over the Ospreys’ athletic department in 2009, Moon helped navigate the university into NCAA Division I athletics, something that is by no means an easy task. During his tenure in Jacksonville, he has overseen 46 ASUN championships across all of the Ospreys’ athletic teams. This includes the school’s first trip to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in 2015.

Moon is truly the embodiment of ‘doing it all.’ The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) graduate has had a very interesting path to this point in their career. After playing football at VMI, he served as a football graduate assistant at the University of Virginia (UVA). He then served as an assistant football coach at Duke University, UVA, and Mississippi State.

Moon’s patience as an assistant coach would pay off when he was handed the keys to the Kansas State football program in 1985 as the interim head coach of the Wildcats. Despite it being a short tenure, not many mid-major programs like UNF can claim a former head coach of a major college football program as their athletic director.

UNF wasn’t Moon’s first stop as an athletic director, as he previously served at Marshall and Wyoming. He also served in an assistant AD role at Kansas State and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. These stops were where he gained the great experience and skills that he would carry over to UNF. 

Losing the oversight of someone like Lee Moon is never easy to overcome, but he has installed a great foundation. This strong base is sure to continue into the future, no matter who the next athletic director is. Moon’s retirement will take effect on June 30 of this year, so announcements regarding Moon’s successor will likely be on the way. 

Lee Moon’s impact on the university cannot be fully stated. His guidance has not only allowed UNF to exist at the Division I level, but the Ospreys have really thrived as a whole. Here’s to a great retirement coach!

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