[8][9][10] In 1909, Moorhead withdrew his name from the candidacy for that season's coaching position at the urging of his father who wanted him to have a more direct role in the family's business interests.

However, John A. did use his influence to help elect Joseph H. Thompson as his successor to the head coaching position at Pittsburgh.

In 1906, John A. arrived at his family's home in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, just as his mother, Anna Alston, was returning from a trip to Paris.

The two then married in New York City the following day, but John A. was subsequently cut off from his family's fortune and forced to make his own way in life.

According to The New York Times, the father had "taken his son back to his heart, told him that he has demonstrated that he is every inch a man, and extended to him and his young wife the place that belongs to them in the family circle".

Moorhead died at age 49 in his home in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, due to a fall that resulted in a fractured skull.