Coaches who worked at UGA with mental conditioning consultant Trevor Moawad offer tributes

During the Georgia football program’s run of three straight SEC championship game appearances as its profile rose nationally, Trevor Moawad was a sideline presence at some of the biggest games and an influential voice behind the scenes.

He rode on the back of a golf cart with coach Kirby Smart as he was whisked to a postgame press conference following a 2019 home victory over Notre Dame before a record crowd in Sanford Stadium.

He wore Georgia gear later that season on the sideline near Smart during the SEC championship game against LSU. A year earlier, he sat in the side of the room during Smart’s press conference before the SEC title game. He was in the locker room next to UGA president Jere Morehead as Smart addressed the team in one postgame talk.

Moawad was remembered by coaches who worked with him—including many at Georgia where he served as a consultant in the past-- this week after the mental conditioning coach died Wednesday at age 48 after a private battle with cancer, according to a post on social media by Limitless Minds. That’s the company he co-founded along with Seattle quarterback and close friend Russell Wilson.

“The IMPACT Trevor made on so many people …he will be dearly missed,” Georgia inside linebackers coach Glenn Schumann posted on Twitter.

Former Georgia defensive coordinator Mel Tucker, now head coach at Michigan State, posted on social media: “Trevor Moawad was a true friend, a great mentor, and a forever teammate. His loyalty, unselifishness, and commitment to serving others was relentless and boundless. …Trev made me, and everyone he touched a better person.”

Smart turned to Moawad for a story he shared with his team before the 2019 game against Florida about Olympic track sprinter Michael Johnson wearing gold shoes because he expected to win the race. He wanted his team to not listen to outside voices but remember they make decisions that affect the outcome of a game.

Prior to the 2017 season when Georgia made a run all the way to the national championship game, Smart said Moawad sent video clips from Smart’s second season at Alabama.

“The players talking about how they felt much more comfortable understanding what the standard was, what the expectation was and that no matter what, you can't really relax out at practice because you don't know what's coming — to expect the unexpected,” Smart said.

Moawad also worked with players for a team-building exercise that offseason. Moawad was a consultant with Nick Saban’s program at Alabama and with the Miami Dolphins when Smart was on staff.

Georgia quarterback JT Daniels also worked with Moawad in the past. They both lived in California. Moawad also consulted with the Florida State and Maryland football programs.