Malachi Moore burst onto the scene for the Alabama Crimson Tide as a freshman last season.
Moore quickly became a fan favorite in Tuscaloosa thanks to some impressive performances early in the season. The Trussville, Alabama product finished the year with 44 total tackles, three interceptions and six pass deflections. He led all Alabama defenders with four forced turnovers. While his freshman season was filled with many triumphs en route to the Crimson Tide winning the 2021 CFP National Championship, Moore faced his fair share of adversity.
The Alabama defensive back shed some light on some of the challenges he faced as a freshman while speaking at the Southern Xpress 7on7 end of the season dinner Sunday.
“Adversity is going to come,” said Moore. “I graduated early but did not get an opportunity to enroll early, and that started the adversity for me heading into college. Then when you get to college, you are used to being the best player at your high school, but you see your name at the bottom. It is an eye-opener.”
The COVID-19 global pandemic shook up college football last season. The 2020-2021 football season was in serious limbo at one point. Due to social distance guidelines, college football players across the nation were forced to train on their own. Moore took full advantage of the opportunity to put in some individual work during that time.
“When COVID hit and no trainers were open, I was working every single day,” Moore said. “I was doing work in the morning and the afternoon with my trainer because I knew where I wanted to get to. Once you get to college, it is a big difference from high school. It is a business. It is dog eat dog. You either going to eat or watch someone else eat. That is the type of mindset you have to have.”
It did not take long for Alabama’s coaching staff to show faith in Moore when fall camp began. By the time Alabama suited up for its first game of the season against the Missouri Tigers, Moore was one of the Tide’s starting defensive backs. He finished that game with three total tackles, but he was not happy with his performance.
“The first college game I played in was not pretty,” Moore said. “I was at the bottom of the production chart. I took that very personally. I started studying film all night, staying up to like 1:30 in the morning after practice, going up there before, two to three hours before, and meeting with coaches just to be prepared for the days.”
Alabama football’s sophomore defensive back, Malachi Moore reflects on overcoming adversity as a freshman for the Crimson Tide at @_SouthernXpress end of year dinner. @TDAlabamaMag pic.twitter.com/CDU0NbM9cf
— Justin Smith (@Jdsmith31Smith) July 11, 2021
Moore’s change in preparation paid dividends in Alabama’s next game. Moore introduced himself to college football in week 2 when Alabama hosted Texas A&M. He caught his first-career interception and had two pass deflections with six tackles against the Aggies.
Unfortunately, Moore’s freshman season was cut short after he suffered an injury in the SEC Championship game. He would miss the entire College Football Playoffs. However, this did not stop the former four-star recruit from being selected to the SEC All-Freshman team. He was also named a Freshman All-American by several organizations.
Moore is projected to be one of the top defensive backs in the country this upcoming season now that he is back healthy.
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Justin Smith is a Scouting/Recruiting analyst for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via @Jdsmith31Smith
