Leonard Moore was the talk of fall camp a year ago when All-American Benjamin Morrison made a bold statement.
“This might be a stretch, but Leonard Moore will be better than I will be here,” stated Morrison. “He's a special kid."
Fast forward 12 months and Morrison’s claim no longer sounds bold at all. Moore enters 2025 as a preseason All-American by most outlets and is arguably the top cornerback in the country.
The Texas native enters his second year feeling confident as he knows what to expect and that he belongs on the field.
“It's definitely huge and it just allows you to play free,” explained Moore. “You go out there as a freshman, sometimes, like, you go out there being nervous or not knowing what you're seeing, but when you come out here in the second year having confidence in your ability and what you're seeing from the offense, you can kind of play faster than everybody.”
Moore finished his debut season with 48 tackles and two interceptions, but he’s focused on raising the bar while avoiding any sophomore slump.
“I feel like nobody's ever satisfied, especially when it comes to team success,” stated Moore. “At the end of the day, we want to win a championship, so I'm never going to be satisfied when we do get a championship. It's always something on the horizon, something to get better at, so I'm just trying to reach my full potential at the end of the day.”
The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder also has to block out the noise. Notre Dame’s Twitter account posts national recognition almost every day for Moore, so the hype is real.
Yet, Notre Dame’s staff has made sure to keep Moore humble and, most importantly, hungry.
“I feel like you just can't let it get to you,” said Moore. “At the end of the day, that attention and the awards, that's from last year. I haven't done anything this year yet. That's how I look at it at the end of the day. I'm still, as Coach [Loren] Landow would say, ‘I'm still not shit.’ I'm always going to be hungry. I'm never going to be satisfied.”
Where has Moore improved the most in the offseason? Mentally.
“I feel like, just more calm,” Moore stated. “More confident. You'll be able to see just by the way I'm playing, I'm doing less backing up, and pressing more. More technical, more sound.”
If Moore wasn’t calm a year ago, no one noticed from the outside. But that’s also the value of experience. Notre Dame’s run to the National Title game made Moore and his teammates grow up quickly, which will pay off this fall.
“I don't want to say too amped up, but sometimes you're a little jittery as a young guy just to get beat over the top and stuff like that as you're giving up shorter stuff,” Moore explained. “I just feel like I'm going to go out there and dominate.”
And when it comes to the defense overall, Moore is excited to see what happens on the field as there have been positive signs during camp that Notre Dame is picking up where they left off.
“Every practice, I see these boys flying around,” said Moore. “Sometimes I won't be having to work in practice, but a lot of times I'll just be watching them from the sideline. I'm like, ‘Oh my gosh, these dudes are just flying around.’ That shit be crazy.”
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