Nick Saban praises flexibility of Malachi Moore in secondary

On3 imageby:Nick Kosko05/02/23

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Nick Saban had a lot of positive thoughts regarding the flexibility of Malachi Moore in the Alabama secondary.

Through three seasons, Moore played a solid role in the backend for the Crimson Tide. But Saban revealed Moore played safety during the entire spring practice period.

That type of ability could really pay off in the fall. 

“He’s actually played safety all spring long,” Saban said. “He didn’t play star at all because we’ve been developing (others at) star. But when we had a couple guys get in the portal they were both stars. So Malachi had to go back and play star … because it’s the best thing for the team. You know, for us to get through today and have two guys that had experience at that position. But Malachi is just a very instinctive player. He’s got lots of reps at doing the things like, you know, some of the blitzes when reading the tackle when he’s set deep and he’s gonna come underneath. 

“I mean, a lot of the other guys hadn’t had the experience doing that as he’s had. But that makes him an effective blitzer because he’s reading it the right way. He’s a smart player, he’s very instinctive. And, you know he’s been a good leader and the secondary all spring long.”

While Saban liked Moore’s approach, the head coach was critical of the secondary as a whole. That’s nothing more than a challenge for Moore and Alabama’s DBs.

“I took that personally just because that’s our secondary,” Moore said after the spring period. “And the way we see things, we should be leaders of the defense just because Coach Saban is our position coach and things like that. So that’s why I be preaching to the guys, like, we have to set the tone for the defense and set the tone for the team. Even when we come out and practice and (are) having like a casual day; not to say casual, but, you know, you have down days. I tell them we (are) the ones that got to pick it up and get everybody on the same page.”

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As a member of the Class of 2020, Moore was a four-star recruit out of Trussville (Ala.) Hewitt, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 7 overall prospect in the state, the No. 13 safety in the class and the No. 188 overall prospect in the class.