Malachi Moore expects emotional Senior Day as he waits to mull over possible return
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – In the locker room after the Sugar Bowl, Malachi Moore didn’t hesitate to say he was coming back to Alabama for the 2023 season. That proved to be a wise decision, as Moore has started all nine of the games he’s played in during his senior campaign.
Moore has been one of the Crimson Tide’s best defensive players this fall and will be one of the 23 seniors honored before Saturday’s home finale versus Chattanooga. When asked if he could use an extra year of eligibility to return in 2024, however, Moore was still unsure.
“I really haven’t thought about it too much,” Moore said Tuesday. “Senior Day, it’s kind of surreal just to see how quickly everything has been going by so fast.
“I’m kind of just taking it in each day at a time, and when that time comes, I’ll probably have a little extra emotions running through me on Saturday, just running out of the tunnel, not knowing if it’s going to be my last time running out of the tunnel or not. I’m just looking forward to it.”
Moore has recorded 39 tackles, including four for loss, and also tallied four pass breakups, one interception and one quarterback hurry so far this year. He has played multiple positions in the Alabama secondary, including Star and safety, and been a key communicator in the back end of the defense, relaying the calls from the sideline to his teammates on the field.
“Malachi is a great leader, but he’s also very smart,” head coach Nick Saban said. “He’s got lots of experience. He understands the system of what we do. I think he really helps the other guys with adjustments that we need to make in the game. He’s been invaluable. He’s played well, and I think he’s helped everybody around him play better.”
Moore was named a player of the week by the Crimson Tide coaches after the team’s worst performances of the season – Texas and South Florida. Since then, however, the defense has played at an elite level, especially in the second halves of games. Teams are averaging just 7.7 points in the second half against Alabama as it has claimed eight straight wins.
“We always say that we’re all we’ve got, we’re all we need,” Moore said. “After that Week 2, it was kind of a tough loss at home and it was something we knew we had to correct as a defense because if they don’t score that many points then we win the game.
“I think that’s just been a big focus on coming in each and every week, knowing what the offense is going to do, knowing the calls that we have to make and execute what the coaches call and just everybody being on the same page and communicating and continuing to hold everybody to that high standard and that high-level Alabama defense.”
Moore, one of the team’s top leaders, has watched his team persevere after an early loss to put itself in a position to still achieve its goals – and appears to be peaking at the right time.
“I’m proud of this team of just how we come into work each and every day,” Moore said. “I think the motto of this team is we’re not satisfied until we get what we want, and we know what we want at the end of the day. This team hasn’t really had a lot of complacency.
“After a big game, after huge wins, we always seem to hone in and focus on what we need to do better because there’s always stuff you need to do better. Nobody has a perfect game, and I think just working towards that every day is what’s helping us get better each and every week.”
Not a member, Alabama fans? Join BOL today!
Have you subscribed to BamaOnLine.com yet? You can sign up for ONE MONTH of premium access to our Alabama coverage for just $1! Be able to read all of BOL’s premium articles and nuggets covering Alabama sports and recruiting and also join thousands of other Crimson Tide fans around the globe on the BOL Round Table message board! CLICK HERE!
