Isaiah Moore Feels NC State Has The Best Linebackers In The Country

NC State star linebacker Isaiah Moore touched on a variety of topics with the print media at the 2022 ACC Football Kickoff. Here is additional video from his sit-down interview.

NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.

So how did seeing Drake succeed help push you to get yourself back?
Just seeing him succeed... I was just proud of him. There are no egos in our room. We all want the best for each other and I knew he would succeed and I'm happy to see it. It definitely motivated me. It's great motivation for me every day, the way he comes in and works. Like I said, last season he didn't get a lot of the shot I feel he deserved, but I said in the meantime, he was probably the most supportive guy. He really showed that last year. 

He motivates me every day from the way he works and the way that he approaches his daily life. It's very inspirational.

Is there a better linebacker group in the country?
No.

Is it close?
I think you can look around the country, you can check our resume's up against any others, I think there's not too many in the country that compare.

You see Devin Leary in practice and games. What is it that makes him so special, so efficient in being quarterback?
He's very confident. He carries his confidence and demeanor not only on the field but off the field as well. He's a competitor, whether that's on the field, going through drills, or off the field... shooting pool and playing for fun.

He's very competitive in everything that he does, and he's very consistent. I think we've seen over the past two, three years, he's been completely successful.

He has ice in his veins; ice cold under pressure, and I think he's very contagious to the rest of the guys around him. 

With the expectations being what they are in Raleigh, we talk about the team a lot. But for you personally, people are expecting you to be a big part of that. Is it a more external thing, or is it like whatever the world puts out, it could never match up to what you expect of yourself?
Yeah, I don't think anybody's a bigger critic of themself than me. I feel like last year sparked a lot in me. That was one of the reasons I came back, because I didn't want to leave NC State on an injury. I wanted to leave NC State on my own terms. So I think that's... I deal with it very internally. I want to be the person that, whatever they would put on me outside of myself is what they do, but I don't really feed into it too much.

With the conference realignment...
All of that stuff is kind of surreal, really. It's kind of different from the way I grew up watching college football.

We understand what we have at stake this year on the field as part of one of our goals to win NCC, and we understand what that means, not just for our program right now, but for our program moving forward. You know, we have an opportunity to put NC State in a national spotlight and that will be very attractive, not only to this conference, but to everyone as well.

You get back to Richmond in the offseason?
Yeah, I'll be around.

Your family all still there?
Yeah, they're all still there.

How were you touched by the high school program and many people back there? Obviously you've got your own thing going on. Are you still a big part of things?
Yeah. We had this built by bird saying that Coach Troy Taylor always goes around...  I still keep in touch with those guys, I still make sure I check up on them. We have this... what we call the Bird way, so I try to make sure I'm still upholding that so I'll check in. So yeah, I check in a lot.

Do you hear from players on the team? Do they reach out to you at all for advice or any of that kind of stuff? 
Not originally. I know I'm kind of an old guy now, you know? Back when I first got to State, yeah, guys would hit me up all the time and ask me what it's like and how can they get recruited and when's camp, when does camp start, things of that nature. So yeah, any time anyone will reach out, they know they can get my phone. 

Isaiah, has there ever been any discussion in the locker and after seeing what happened in Chapel Hill last year, they had all the pre-season hype, you guys were getting the pre-season hype this year. Are there any lessons that can be learned from the disappointing season that they had going into this year?
Yeah, we always decided, don't be like UNC, you know? We always say that. But especially... they had the hype going into last year, we had the hype going into this year. We just want to make sure that we're focused on our goal each and every day. Focused on being the best NC State we can be, and we feel like if we do that, then the sky is the limit for us.

Obviously they mentioned in the other room that the Atlantic Division has all seven of its starting quarterbacks returning this year. How much do you welcome that sort of challenge that you're going against someone that's been through their own system, has the experience every single week here in this conference?
We welcome the competition. We want everyone at their best when we play them because we feel like we're that good as a team and that good as a defense. Coach Gibson always says he wants a target on our back. He wants everyone to come for us, and that's the mindset that we approach every day in practice, every day we step on that field, game day. We feel like we're a really, really good group, a really talented group that can stack up with anybody. 

I've got one NIL question. In the NFL locker rooms, obviously some guys get paid more than other guys. That's never been a thing in college until now; not necessarily for your team, but in college football. Do you think it could be an issue where some guys are getting more, some guys are getting less? It's not even. Some of the recruits might get some of the money before they've ever played. Is that going to be a problem in some locker rooms? 
I think initially it will be just because, like you said, it's something that we've never had to deal with in college sports before. The idea of greed can creep in the locker room if you let it, but like I said, comparison is the thief of joy. So you compare yourself to other people and what other people are getting, all you're doing is taking away from your own happiness and what you've got going on in your own life. So I think initially it may play a factor, but of course, over time as this becomes more regular it won’t.