Prospect profile: Griffin’s Corey Moore happy to be a Bulldog

Good thing Corey Moore isn’t into football for fame and glory. The junior safety from Griffin committed to Georgia on Jan. 30, a full year and three days before he’ll have a chance to sign a letter-of-intent. But he wasn’t even the Bulldogs’ first pledge. That honor went to Tucker safety Chris Sanders, who happened to go into coach Mark Richt’s office before him that day at UGA’s first Junior Day.  So all he got was a few lines in the paper. Yet Moore said he feels anything but overshadowed. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound multi-sport athlete wasn’t looking for attention when he made his early choice. After getting an offer from his “dream school,” Moore simply didn’t see any reason to put off the inevitable. And by all accounts this is no marginal prospect pouncing on the first good offer to come his way. The ball-hawking safety snagged six interceptions and manned the back line of suffocating Griffin defense that has terrorized Class AAAA the past couple of seasons. He’s currently transitioning from basketball to track, where he runs the 4×100, 4×400 and long jump, among other events. I sat down to talk to Moore this week as part of a continuing series prospect profiles for the AJC Recruiting Blog.

Q: So why commit to Georgia so early in the recruiting process?

A: “When I got the chance to go to that campus the first time, I was like, ‘I love this place.’ This is my dream school I always wanted to go to.’ I said, ‘if they offer me I’m gonna take it.’ And they did.”

Q: The Bulldogs actually offered you before you went to Athens, right?

A: “Yes, sir. We’ve had some folks from Griffin play for Georgia like Charlie Clemons, Johnathan Sullivan, some others. I talked to them a little bit about going to Georgia. That really sealed the deal there.”

Q: How much recruiting interest had you been getting before Georgia?

A: “I had a whole bunch of schools that were very interested but I didn’t have any offers on the table. Georgia was my first offer. Offers are rolling in now but that was my first one.”

Q: So you’re recruitment actually picked up after you committed to Georgia?

A: “Yeah, I’ve heard from Georgia Tech, Florida State, North Carolina State, North Carolina, LSU, a whole bunch of them.”

Q: How’s it make you feel knowing you’ve got a college scholarship locked up, and to your dream school no less?

A: “It’s humbling. It makes you just want to work harder, first in high school and then to get ready for college. It’s just humbling.”

Q: What has the reaction been in Griffin since you became a Bulldog?

A: “Some people congratulate me and some people ask me, ‘you didn’t want to hold out until other offers rolled in?’ I’m like, ‘No, Georgia is my dream school.’ They understand.”

Q: Were you born and raised in Griffin?

A: “I wasn’t born in Griffin but I was raised in Griffin. I moved to Griffin when I was 3 years old. I was born in Atlanta. My dad was raised in Griffin. My mom is from Atlanta.

Q: So what’s it like growing up in Griffin?

A: “It’s like a big family down here. Everyone knows everyone. We all get along. When it comes to football, everybody loves Griffin football.”

Q: I know Georgia is hard after your teammate Xzavier Dickson, as is pretty much everybody? Do you have any influence with him?

A: “Oh yeah. I’ve been working on him. Me and Chris and Amarlo [Herrera], all three of us have been working on him trying to get him to come with us. We all have his number. But he hasn’t made up his mind yet. We’re trying to get him to go with us to Junior Day on Saturday at Georgia.”

Q: Is he going to go?

A: “Oh, yeah, I think he’s going to come.”

Q: Isn’t the general consensus that he’s leaning toward Alabama?

A: “Yeah, I’d say so. I visited there with him before I got the offer from Georgia. They love him down there.”

Q: What position do you think you’ll play at Georgia?

A: “I’m a safety, cornerback, wide receiver, I can play them all. They said safety but they said they may throw me in there at wide receiver a little bit.”

Q: What do you think of the new secondary coach Scott Lakatos?

A: “I was just talking to him today. He was showing his family around the campus. He’s a really nice coach, a good coach. I talk to him a lot. I knew nothing about him before but that day I did commit, me and him talked about it. I learned a lot about him then. He’s a real good coach, stays on you. He wants you to do well, not only in football but in life.”

Q: Georgia had four players de-commit in this last class. Are you keeping your options open?

A: “No, sir, I’m going to keep it as it is. No visits anywhere or anything.”

Q: What’s the outlook for Griffin next season?

A: “We lost some good talent but I think we’re going to come out stronger and win it all this year. Getting knocked out like we did last year, it’s more motivation really. We’re definitely going to win it all.”