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Notre Dame Football Recruiting

Coach | RJ Moten One Of A Kind

May 23, 2019
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Garrett Lucas has plenty to say about RJ Moten‍, but the head coach at Delran High School in New Jersey can sum it up in a sentence.

“I can promise you I will never coach another individual like RJ in my life,” Lucas says of the 2020 athlete.

On the field, Lucas takes full advantage of the 6-foot, 200-pounder’s talents.

“He’s one of those kids who can really do it all,” says Lucas. “He’s pretty special.”

Moten can be seen in the backfield, where “he can run north-south running Power or take the ball outside with a pitch or Outside Zone,” according to Lucas. He’s also featured at receiver, where can take a quick pass 80 yards or run downfield 50 yards before going up and hauling in a deep ball.

And other times, he’s the one doing the throwing.

“Since he is such a good baseball player, we use him in a Wildcat package,” says Lucas. “He threw for three touchdowns on the year.”

He’s also a standout on defense, where he finished with 44 tackles, five interceptions and about 10 pass breakups as a junior.

“He’s a kid who is always around the ball,” says Lucas. “He comes down and is a presence in the box in terms of stopping the run.”

Moten watches enough film of opponents to put himself in position to make as many plays as possible.

“He’s called me at 9, 10 o’clock at night and said, ‘Hey Coach, look at Play 68. When they’re in this set, it’s going to be this,’” says Lucas. “He really is a different kid.”

Moten’s father, Ron Moten, played linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1987-91.

“It’s in his blood,” his coach says.

Notre Dame offered Moten earlier this week and the Irish see him as a safety prospect.

“He’s thrilled about it,” says Lucas.

Moten told Irish Sports Daily he’s looking at taking an official visit to South Bend next month.

“They are for sure coming out because that’s going to be one of his top schools,” Lucas says. “From his words, it’s a prestigious university. The rich history of Notre Dame, that’s one of the places when you say college football, you’re thinking of a school like Notre Dame. I think he really values that.”

Moten is also a standout baseball player and has already done his research on former Irish two-sport stars like Jeff Samardzija.

“He pulled up film on Tom Zbikowski and how much of a physical defender he was,” says Lucas. “He kind of saw himself in that role.”

Off the field, Moten leads by example along with his voice.

“He’s a guy who will give up his Sundays to work with youth athletes, holding chains or coaching them up at youth football events,” says Lucas. “Whatever we need from a coaching perspective, whether it’s community service or a way to give back to his school or his community, he steps up. He’s not a kid who plays video games. He’s always hanging out trying to make his teammates better and make himself better.

“I am firm believer in ‘Somebody is always watching you.’ There are times when I’ve caught him working with freshman kids who can’t even lift the bar. You just don’t see that in today’s world. He does that willingly.”

 
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