Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1547512
14 NOV. 14, 2026 BY JACK SOBLE L eonard Moore never gets rattled. It's a trait he shares with his en- tire family. "They're really all the same," Moore's trainer, Bernard "Bam" Blake, told Blue & Gold Illustrated. "They just take the blessings day by day. I don't think any of them still realize how good Leonard is as a football player." Dr. Leonard Moore, the All-American cornerback's father, is a history profes- sor at the University of Texas at Aus- tin. He's also the founder and executive director of the Black Student-Athlete Summit, which works to ensure Black athletes get the support they need to find jobs after college. In those roles, Dr. Moore told BGI that he's drawn criticism. Moore has seen the way his father responds and applied it. "He's just seen us be calm, cool and collected in the line of fire," Dr. Moore told BGI. "I just think he's seen his dad stick up for students and his mom stick up for students for 25 years, even when it's unpopular. "I think he sees the convictions that his parents have. We never bring it home. We just, 'Hey, let's get up and go to work and do what we do.'" Moore is not a trash-talker, either. Many elite cornerbacks of recent vin- tage (Richard Sherman, Jalen Ramsey) were, but Moore ignores it to the point where sometimes wide receivers don't know what to do. Dr. Moore could only come up with one thing his son gets "super-duper animated about" on a regular basis: LeBron James, whom he'll defend to his last breath. "Other than that, man, he's pretty even-keeled," Dr. Moore said. "Never gets too high, too low." Blake compared Moore to boxer Ter- ence "Bud" Crawford, who compiled a 42-0 record from 2008-25. He would defend himself if someone pushed him, but his style was to let his boxing do the talking. Moore is the same way, and that's one of his most powerful tools as a cornerback. Why? Because you can't take him out of his game. "He doesn't have a point to prove, in a sense," Blake said. "The saying is, 'The ones who bark the loudest have the lightest bite.' I think he kind of embod- ies that mindset, where he's like, 'Okay, if I don't talk about it so much, I can go out there and show the world exactly who I think I am.'" BEEN THERE BEFORE For much of the advance hype of Notre Dame's season-defining matchup against Miami, Moore's imminent battle with Hurricanes wide receiver Malachi Toney took center stage. That battle was abruptly canceled when Toney injured his ankle in practice Nov. 4 and reportedly underwent surgery the following day. But Miami's offense still featured the ACC's second-leading receiver in total yards in 2025, Cooper Barkate, as well as the most efficient passing offense in the country by far. Miami quarterback Darian Mensah entered South Bend with a nation-lead- ing passing efficiency rating of 202.7. The difference between No. 1 and No. 2, Ohio State's Julian Sayin, was greater than the difference between No. 2 and No. 13. Particularly without co-starter DJ McKinney (an- kle) and preseason All-American safety Brauntae Johnson (foot), Moore had to play at the top of his game to stop the Canes' aerial attack. The last time he faced a challenge like that was Oct. 18, 2025, when Southern Cal's eventual Biletnikoff Award win- ner and first-round pick Makai Lemon visited South Bend. Moore confirmed then what Blake already knew — he was built for games like that. "To be a defensive back, it's a posi- tion that's kind of built off the grounds of being a confident player," Blake said. Unlike many other elite cornerbacks, Moore is not a trash-talker, preferring to let his play on the field do his talking for him. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER LINE OF FIRE LINE OF FIRE Here's why Leonard Moore was ready to meet the moment that defined Notre Dame's season