On December 2, 2012 after a first round home playoff loss to Illinois State, athletics director Charlie Cobb announced that Moore would not return for the 2013 season. According to a press release issued by the ASU athletic department, Cobb stated that he and Moore agreed after the end of the 2011 season that the 2012 season would be Moore's last as head coach, but chose not to make an announcement until that time. However, several days later, Moore claimed that there had been a communication gap, and that he had wanted to coach for one more season in 2013. Cobb announced that assistant head coach Scott Satterfield, who played quarterback under Moore at Appalachian from 1993 to 1995 and served as an assistant at ASU from 1998 to 2008, would serve as interim head coach while a national coaching search was conducted. Satterfield was given the permanent job on December 14, 2012.