Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 13, 2025 17 didn't look into that, because I think a lot of our success comes from just be- ing from good families, and families that know what college sports are about in general. So, we've got our heads on our shoulders. And whether we were overlooked or not, we came in and knew what we needed to do to get on the field. "I ended up where I needed to be at the end of the day." And then the aftermath of his escape from epilepsy simply took over. Never take anything for granted. Never lose your hunger. Never take a day off from improving. Morrison, a 2024 preseason All- American himself and a second-round NFL Draft pick last spring as an early en- try, noticed Moore's drive and talent al- most immediately in the summer of 2024 when Moore arrived in June as a first-time enrollee. By the time Morrison met with re- porters in August, he proclaimed Moore was going to have a better Notre Dame career than he was on track for, that af- ter Morrison was a Freshman All-Amer- ican in 2022. By the end of September, that pre- monition and the hints from expanding relief appearances moved to center stage when Moore had to fill in for injured starter Christian Gray at field corner- back against pass-happy Louisville. The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder played all but one defensive snap (76) in that game and forced a key turnover, strip- ping Cardinal quarterback Tyler Shough of the football at the end of a 46-yard run in a tight 31-24 Irish victory. Some point to it as one of a handful of plays that reset Notre Dame's season after the upset loss at home to three- touchdown underdog Northern Illinois Sept. 7. "I had never practiced field corner- back in practice," Moore recalled of the Louisville game. "I was straight bound- ary behind Ben, because obviously Ben was playing in the league the next year, so they were just preparing me for that. "But when Christian went out, I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm about to learn a whole new way of playing stuff in one week.' … So, it was definitely a lot of pressure. I definitely tried to take some pressure off myself, just be level-headed and trust my ability. I think that was probably my worst game overall, if I had to say myself. "Those Louisville receivers were good, too. They were really good. But I feel like I learned a lot of stuff during that game that helped me be success- ful when I actually did have to come in for Ben." That would happen in Notre Dame's very next game, Oct. 12 against Stanford, following a bye week. In that game, Mor- rison suffered a hip injury that ended his season. Moore took over at boundary cornerback as the starter the next game, against Georgia Tech in Atlanta. And took off. He not only evolved into one of col- lege football's best cover corners in the succeeding weeks, backed up by Pro Football Focus' film grades, he ranked as one of the top run defenders in any secondary in the nation. Over Notre Dame's last five games — the regular-season finale at archrival Southern Cal and the four-game playoff run of Indiana, Georgia, Penn State and Ohio State, the Irish defense was on the field for a combined 341 snaps. Moore was on the field for 340 of them. After the season, he was named the Football Writers Association of America's Freshman Defensive Player of the Year. "At the end of the day, that attention and the awards, that's from last year," Moore said ahead of the season opener at Miami Aug. 31. "That's how I look at it. I'm still, as [Notre Dame director of football performance Loren] Landow would say, 'I'm still not sh--.' I feel like I'm never going to be satisfied." And he worked that way this past summer. He worked with longtime trainer "Bam" Blake during intermittent breaks back home in Texas. And he camped out in defensive backs coach Mike Mick- ens' office back on campus, also mixing it up on the field with Virginia gradu- ate transfer receiver Malachi Field this summer and in training camp. "No receiver that I'm going to see is going to be as big and strong as him," Moore said of the 6-4, 222-pound Fields. "So, in practice having a hand fight with a guy like that, it just gets you stronger and gets your technique even better." And Moore, in turn, passes it on to the newest freshman cornerback prodi- gies Dallas Golden and Mark Zackery IV, who are holding down the No. 2 corner spots, and their promising classmate Cree Thomas. "If I would have given the option for a guy in their second year to be a cap- tain, I'm not so certain that Leonard wouldn't have been named a captain," head coach Marcus Freeman said ahead of the Miami game. "I didn't give the first- or second-year guys the oppor- tunity to be voted upon. "I see Leonard coaching those two f re s h m e n , Da l l a s Golden and Mark Z a c ke r y I V, j u s t as much as Coach M i c k e n s . W h e n Coach Mickens has to focus on five guys at once, well, guess what? There's some other guys that need coaching. "You see Leonard and Christian both take a big role in helping those young guys through the good plays and the bad plays. Probably more than anything when they get beat. You're going to get beat, especially playing corner. You've got to have somebody to build that con- fidence in you. Leonard's done a tre- mendous job doing that. "The other part is he's practicing at a high level. You can't practice poorly and expect to be a leader. He keeps practic- ing at a high level. He studies the game, takes care of his body, and he's doing a great job for us." All the while, Moore never forgets what a blessing it is to be able to play football without worrying about if and when the next seizure might come. "I can't take this for granted, because some people have limitations and stuff," Moore said. "Anything can happen out there on the field to where I wouldn't be able to play football again, so I'm just not taking it for granted." Not even the higher expectations, stricter scrutiny and brighter lights that come along with that. "They say pressure is a privilege," Moore offered. "So, if you've got pres- sure on you, it means you're doing something right. So, just keep doing what I'm doing." ✦ "It was huge being delivered from that and being able to go out here and ultimately play football without the risk of another seizure." MOORE