Looking for Moore at Tight End
When there isn't media access during a camp, be it spring or fall, the names that come up unprompted are the guys that have really impressed. When talking about the blocking for running backs, Cal's RB coach Aristotle Thompson said this:
"Watch Collin Moore, you get a chance to watch practice, watch Collin Moore. That guy is fun to watch."
Moore's career stats will not wow you, with 5 receptions for 40 yards and a touchdown against Illinois in the Redbox Bowl, but he impressed enough during the spring that he'll likely start at tight end, as he did in 2020. The San Marin product wouldn't be in the position he's in without a little bit of the Berkeley spirit, a refusal to listen to authority.
"He was a walk-on as a quarterback," Justin Wilcox said, "had a number of injuries, I thought Collin was going to have to give up football because of injuries, but he wouldn't have it. He wanted to do anything to be on the field, and he's an extremely hard worker, he's a great mentor for the younger guys and a great leader for our team."
"The middle of my first spring, once I realized I wasn't that good at quarterback," Moore recalled, "I thought 'maybe I should play a different position.' It might have been one of the first walkthroughs we had, I remember seeing how much Chase Forrest and Ross Bowers were preparing, 'I put in 30 minutes last night' and I see them doing an hour or two hours before, and also during routes on air 'these spirals are some of the tightest I've ever seen,' and my perspective on everything changed."
Wilcox told Moore that he may not have a future in football at the college level, but Moore redshirted in 2017, added 30 pounds to his 6'5" frame, and started for the first time against Washington State in 2019. He earned a scholarship in 2020, earned his second start against UCLA in 2020, prior to being knocked out of the next two games due to contact tracing protocol. In what he says is his final season, Moore turned heads throughout the spring, including those of Thompson and offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave.
"Collin had a big catch (last Wednesday) on a deep cross," Musgrave noted, "going 40-50-60, had a good move on the safety in the open field, used a stiff arm. He's creating some explosive plays in the pass game, doing well in the run game."
Talk to Geep Chryst about Moore, and this is the first thing you hear.
"Here's a kid with a 4.0 GPA," Chryst said, "you're not going to find anyone smarter than him."
While Moore was quick to correct his coach (he had a 3.27 GPA as an undergrad, and the 4.0 comes from his master's program), he's appreciative that the Bears' new tight ends coach treats him like a veteran.
"Coach Geep has been amazing for us," Moore said, "just being able to pick his brain about the NFL and the tight end position. I like to come out to practice early and ask him questions about football and questions about life. He treats the older guys like NFL vets at times, which is nice because I feel like we are vets, he's really hands-on with the young guys. This offense can be daunting with how much you need to learn, but having another NFL guy to be able to explain it is super helpful to them."
If the spring game was any indication, Cal is going to spend a lot of their time on offense in 12 personnel. Moore is set to be a big piece of that, and his development this spring has been due to the setup of his master's program in public health, allowing him to focus on his football development while working on a degree in an extremely timely field.
"I'm able to spend a good amount of time focusing on football because the master's program was created for people with fulltime jobs," Moore said. "I like to tell people I'm in one of the most timely programs you can be in at Cal, some of the stuff we're learning is extremely eye-opening and useful. It's refreshing to learn stuff that I can apply everyday, and be the person who can educate people on certain things."
With this being Moore's last season, he's looking toward the future of the program, and working with the guy who will likely take his place. In Jermaine Terry, the Bears have a guy who can block the C-gap, like Moore, with some of the size that Moore had to build coming in from day one. To the senior tight end, Terry's biggest plus has been his willingness to learn.
"I don't think I've ever seen a freshman walk in with the size he has," Moore said. "He's bigger than some of the D-lineman I had to block last year. His eagerness to learn is unmatched, I don't think I've seen a freshman so eager to get his hand in the dirt and learn. He's always asking me, Tonny (Jake Tonges), and Gavin (Reinwald) questions about certain situations and the playbook. It's definitely a lot for any freshman to come in and get thrown into the offense, but he's definitely swimming."
Moore and Terry, along with the whole compliment of tight ends, figure heavily into the Bears plans moving into an offense that utilizes them more frequently, as the Bears look to make a jump offensively in 2021.