One Penn State Football Assistant Coach Quietly Reshaping This Team

Kashif Moore received a cold call in February, barely two months after leaving his alma mater UConn for Colorado State with head coach Jim Mora. It was from Penn State offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser, whom he had never met.

Penn State needed a new receivers coach when Noah Pauley, who coached with Matt Campbell at Iowa State last year, left for the Green Bay Packers after two months in State College. Mouser had heard good things about Moore, who liked Penn State’s pitch and particularly clicked with the offensive coordinator, whom he called “young, creative and energetic.”

By Valentine's Day, Moore was at Penn State, taking over a room that has been cast as underperforming for three years. But Moore doesn't have those callouses of Penn State's immediate past with its receivers, and neither do most of the players in his room. So he's racing into the questions instead of avoiding them.

“This is an exciting challenge for me,” he said. “I’m an ultimate competitor, right? I have full confidence in my ability to coach and develop, and this is nothing new to me. This is also a narrative that I walked into when I got to UConn.”

Tasked with refreshing Penn State's receivers, Moore has jumped at it. Campbell, who has heard all about the position's recent history, called wide receiver the team's most intriguing position based on its new and returning talent. And because of its coach, who raced to catch up last winter.

"The challenge is to uphold our standard," Moore said. "Our identity is to be the most selfless, explosive, toughest wide receivers in the country."

Moving quickly to Penn State

Penn State Nittany Lions wide receivers coach Kashif Moore answers questions during football media day in Holuba Hall. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Fittingly, Moore brought his own prove-it tendencies to Penn State. He was a modestly recruited player from Burlington, New Jersey (attending some Penn State camps in the process) who became one of the top 10 receivers in UConn history.

Moore finished his career with 126 and 1,699 receiving yards and spent time with four NFL teams, including the Pittsburgh Steelers, before beginning his college coaching career at Wesleyan in 2020. At every step, from Wesleyan to Albany to Cornell to UConn, Moore paid his dues by teaching.

At UConn, Moore met Skyler Bell, who had caught 69 passes in three seasons at Wisconsin before transferring. In two seasons with the Huskies, Bell caught 161 passes (albeit in a different offense) and set a school-record with his 101-reception season in 2025. Moore helped Bell become UConn’s first consensus All-American and first Biletnikoff Award finalist.

“Skyler Bell was one of the best wide receivers in all of college football last year,” Moore said. “It’s a story I will always tell, because he made history.”

Moore already was recruiting at Colorado State on Mora's staff when Mouser called. He was intrigued with how Campbell and Mouser taught and deployed receivers in their offense, particularly with the 2024 duo of Jayden Higgins and Jaylen Noel, who combined for more than 2,300 yards that year.

"This is something I really want to be a part of," Moore said.

'One of my favorite coaches'

Penn State Nittany Lions wide receivers coach Kashif Moore during a practice session inside Holuba Hall. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

At Penn State, Moore reunited with Chase Sowell, a fifth-year senior who is playing for his fourth program. Moore and Sowell met three years ago through the business of football. Sowell was transferring from Colorado, and Moore tried to recruit him to UConn.

Sowell called Moore to say thanks but that he would be transferring to East Carolina instead. Moore told Sowell to "ball out" and that perhaps they'd see each other again.

"That showed me what kind of dude he is, and later on when I heard his name, it rung a bell," Sowell said.

Sowell recently called Moore "probably one of my favorite coaches I've ever played for," because of how he runs the position room. Sowell said that Moore sets goals that "seem unattainable but are attainable" and then holds his players to them. "If you see us doing up-downs, you'll know why," Sowell said.

Though he’s new to Penn State, Moore has a small fan base among the program's lettermen. He got to know former Nittany Lions Justin King, Johnny Troutman and Derek Moye during his NFL career.

Moore also received a pep talk from Greg Gattuso, the former Penn State defensive tackle who was the head coach at Albany. Gattuso hired Moore at Albany in 2022, a season for which Moore remains grateful.

“He had a really, really big impact on me,” Moore said of Gattuso. “He took a chance on me and trusted me. On one of my last days [at Albany], he actually told me that he saw me one day becoming a head coach.”

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