Terrence Moore tackles plank challenge in Pitt weight room test of will, strength

Imagine doing a pushup and holding it as long as possible while leaning on your forearms or hands and staying off the floor with your upper and lower body and butt in a linear position.

It’s called a plank, and the typical YMCA athlete uses it to help tighten the abdominals. Beginners are pleased if they can hold it for 30 seconds. Stronger athletes can do it for several minutes or more.

And then there’s Terrence Moore.

When Pitt’s center and teammates perform planks in the ground-floor weight room of the Aaron Donald Football Performance Center, they get the same physical benefits as anyone else. More than that, it’s a test of will, endurance and strength.

And what is offensive line play other than a determined effort to move a man from Point A to Point B against his will? You better have the appropriate physical and mental attributes to make it happen.

Moore (6-foot-5, 305 pounds) is the team’s plank champion, one day holding his, he said, for 25 minutes. Moore admitted it wasn’t perfect.

“I want to get that on the record,” Moore said.

“The rule was just don’t let your knees hit the ground. Obviously, the coaches are (shouting), ‘Keep your butt down. Keep your butt down.’”

After the players stay off the floor for several minutes, coaches place a weightlifting plate on their back. You know, just to make it a challenge.

“That’s just mental toughness and just getting it done,” Moore said.

Planks are part of Pitt strength and conditioning coach Michael Stacchiotti’s workout program that is designed to identify the players with the endurance to withstand those fourth-quarter rallies.

Moore, a junior who played at Ohio high school power Massilon Washington, was a reserve during his first two seasons at Pitt (2021 and 2022) . He earned nine starts last year when Jake Kradel was out with an injury or was playing guard.

This season, he’s competing with N.C. State transfer Lyndon Cooper for the starting job at center while coach Pat Narduzzi seeks overall improvement on the offensive line. If Moore wins it, Pitt will have the ability to line up four 300-plus-pounders, including tackles Branson Taylor and Ryan Baer and guard B.J. Williams, who started six or more games last season.

Other than his experience and strength, Moore stands out among his teammates in another way. He graduated from Pitt in three years with a 3.85 grade-point average and a bachelor’s degree in communications.

That’s not easy to do, but Moore said studying, keeping up your grades and satisfying the demands of a football scholarship merely requires discipline.

“It really helped coming in during the spring my first year,” he said. “That allowed me to see how the college life was before I really got to college.”

He said the mandated freshman life skills class helped him develop important organizational and time management skills.

With backgrounds in academics and football, Moore said opportunities post-Pitt “are endless,” and could include making a living in business, education, coaching, football and/or communications. Or an avenue toward more education of his own can open up for him.

“Football’s not guaranteed for anybody,” he said. “I’ll have at least two degrees, maybe get three.”