Malachi Moore leading Alabama secondary as its 'best communicator'

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Malachi Moore has been one of Alabama’s best players through the first three games of the 2023 season. With the Crimson Tide, as a whole, has struggled the last two weeks, the veteran defensive back was among the UA coaches’ players of the week after Texas and South Florida, coming down with a timely interception in the last outing.

Moore is playing well to begin Year 4 with the Crimson Tide and has emerged as one of the top leaders on the defensive side of the ball as a senior. Head coach Nick Saban has praised the versatile defensive back for his ability to relay the calls throughout the secondary.

“Malachi has been the leader of that group,” Saban said. “He’s the best communicator. He makes lots of checks, lots of calls. He gets everybody on the same page. I think it helps the other players play with a lot of confidence, and he has played very, very well. 

“He puts a lot into it, does everything that we ask of him in terms of effort, toughness, not making mental mistakes, doing things the way we’d like for him to do it. I’m very pleased with the way he’s playing.”

Moore has manned a familiar position to start his senior season, playing the Star in Alabama’s nickel and dime formations. From there, he has been the signal-caller for the defensive backs to begin the season and has thrived in that role ahead of the start of conference play.

“I just think that communicating is what helps us as a defense and as a secondary,” Moore said. “If everybody’s on the same page, we’re all going to be good. Even sometimes I might even call the wrong call and we all play the wrong call. But if we’re all wrong, we’re all right. 

“So communicating is a big key of just getting everybody on the same page because we need all 11 guys on the field to do their job in order to be successful.”

Alabama has emphasized getting the calls in from the sideline faster, and that will be especially important this Saturday against the Ole Miss offense. The Rebels are once again moving quickly on offense in 2023, as they rank as one of 11 FBS schools at sub-23 seconds between plays. Only Tennessee (19.7), TCU (21.3), USF (21.4) and Texas Tech (21.9) are faster.

Having already faced an uptempo offense last week in the Bulls and getting ready to go against another in Ole Miss this week, Moore discussed the challenge of relaying calls 

“I just think everybody has to be urgent and get lined up,” Moore said. “We really don’t have too much time to celebrate after we make a tackle or big play or anything like that. That’s one thing we’ve been focusing on in practice, just – even if the scout team’s not running back to the ball or going fast tempo, we do that as a defense. 

“Being conscious, just running back to the ball and getting the call so it can translate to the game.” 

Through three games, Moore has recorded 15 tackles, one tackle for loss, two pass breakups and one interception. His responsibilities have increased on the field as the most experienced member of the secondary, and as such, he has stepped into a leadership role on that side of the ball. Moore can be seen before and during games motivating his UA teammates.

“I just love the game of football, man,” Moore said. “I just love being out there playing with my teammates every Saturday, just taking the field with them and going to war with them. It’s honestly a blessing to be here at the University of Alabama and to play this game that I love so much.

“So I just want to show that I wear my heart on my sleeves when I’m out there on the field and try to give my team as much energy as I can.”

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