WATCH: Isaiah Moore Breaks Down What it Means to Coach at his Alma Mater (with transcript)

Former NC State All-ACC Linebacker Isaiah Moore is now serving as an Assistant Coach at his alma mater, helping lead the room he used to sit in. Earlier this week, Moore met with the media after practice, breaking down how much this coaching opportunity means to him, and why Caden Fordham and Sean Brown were voted to be captains by their teammates.

You can watch the video above, and read the transcript below.

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It’s been a great transition, being back at home, back around the guys, a couple of guys I played with, actually getting to coach now, which has been really good. It’s been fun. It’s a blessing.

I can’t thank Coach Doeren enough for allowing me to be back here, for me to be in this role, it’s been great. Now, my whole goal is to get these guys ready to play.

How much did you learn from the bowl prep last year and kind of being able to take over the position?

I learned a lot, being able to have the room on an interim tag during a bowl game was a big learning experience for me.

I kind of learned on the fly, how to manage a room, get the personality, get the skill sets, how to put players in position to be successful, and I think I’ve learned a lot from that. Now I’m going to use those lessons to help us out in the future.

You wore the #1 one. What about Caden Fordham makes him qualified to wear it?

He’s been through a lot since he’s been here, and he’s learned a lot. I think the biggest way I can put it, is that he took lead of this team, this offseason, even while being injured and going through a recovery process, he’s found opportunities and he did it in his own way. He didn’t try to be me, he didn’t try to be Payton (Wilson), he didn’t try to be Drake (Thomas).

He just wanted to be Cade Fordham, and I told him that that would be enough, and it was enough. I’m extremely happy for him.

I couldn’t have it go to a better person, and I’m honored to have him in the #1 club with me.

When did you know you wanted to be a coach? Has anything surprised you as a coach?

I always felt like I wanted to be a coach one day. I love this game. I love football. I love being around these guys.

I had my opportunity to play, and now I want to give these guys an opportunity to do the same, to go further than I did. That’s my whole goal with being a coach. You don’t coach for yourself, you coach for other people.

You coach to give back to the game, to encourage these kids, to develop them the best way you can, both as players and as men. To be coaching at your alma mater as well, I mean, it’s like a fairytale story, right? You get a chance to play linebacker at NC State, then you go off and play in the league for a little bit, and then come back and coach linebackers at NC State, under the coach that you played for, around a lot of guys that you played with.

It’s insane, but I’m just extremely blessed and thankful to be back here.

Is it ever weird, coaching some of the guys that you were teammates with?

I wouldn’t say it’s weird, but I think it actually helps a little bit, because they understand who I am and I understand who they are.

I’m able to communicate with them on a level that they definitely understand. A lot of these guys were freshmen my senior year. When I would be a leader doing things, they kind of saw me in that space already.

So I just go back to my playing days. Sean (Brown) and Caden (Fordham) still call me Captain. It’s funny in the meeting room. Now I call them Captain.

It’s awesome. It’s good to be back here.

You got a chance to coach at Cardinal Gibbons, and now at the college level. What are your thoughts on that?

I just want to be on the field, wherever there’s a football field, I’ll be there, high school, college, one day at little league.

As long as there’s football around, I’ll coach it.

You saw Caden come in as a Freshman. How much have you seen him grow to now be in the role he’s in now?

He came in as a young kid from Florida with a ton of energy, a ton of juice, and he’s kept that throughout his four years.

Like I said before, he’s been through some things in his time here. He’s learned a lot, grown a lot, been through adversity, was injured, battled back. He just found ways to lead and to be himself in his own way.

That’s one thing I really admire about Caden, and that’s one of the reasons why I think he got that number. He was able to lead and do things, and better this team in his own way.

What’s the biggest difference with the difference with DJ Eliot as Defensive Coordinator?

We’re going to still be a hard-hitting, fly-around team. This team’s got a bunch of energy and a bunch of juice. I think the biggest difference that you’ll see from us is that we’re going to be multiple. We’re going to do a few different things schematically, but we’re gonna be who we are.

We’re going to fly around, hit you in the chin, and we’re going to play solid defense. That’s what we do here at NC State.

This is Sean’s second year at Linebacker, and second year as a captain. How have you seen him really take a step forward this year, being more comfortable at the position?

Coming out of the Safety room last year, he still had to kind of learn the position of playing linebacker, right? I think he was kind of learning on the fly last year, and that’s one of the biggest things we talked about in the offseason. ‘We’ve got to make sure you understand the position of linebacker. Then after you understand the position, now we teach you the scheme, right?’

And I think he’s done a heck of a job on his own account, learning the position, learning the scheme, and helping out the guys to do the same. Everyone on the team, everyone in this program really looks to Sean as a leader, as a voice you can go to, on both sides of the ball. Not only is he holding people accountable, but also brings people up.

He’s a very intelligent guy. He has his athletic traits, but the kind of person he is, he’s a hard worker, and he’s going to bring people up with him, and never going to leave somebody behind. That’s one of the reasons why he’s a two-time captain.

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In Moore’s final season playing Linebacker for the Wolfpack, he had 82 tackles (4th on the team) and 15 tackles for loss (2nd on the team). He earned 2nd Team AP All-ACC honors in 2022.

He ranks 12th in school history in tackles (341), and 7th in tackles for loss (42.5).

Moore is one of the best leaders NC State has had in quite some time, serving as a captain 3 times as a player, wearing the #1 jersey in all of those seasons.