More Moores
Duke a home away from home for siblings Jordan, Jaysen and Skylar
Johnny Moore, GoDuke The Magazine
To say that Jordan Moore has enjoyed an interesting and fulfilling college football career would truly be an understatement.
The outstanding and accomplished Blue Devil wide receiver has learned to make adjustments on the football field. He came out of high school listed as one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the nation by ESPN and Rivals. He ended up finding a home catching the ball instead of throwing it. Off the field he didn’t have to make many adjustments as he excelled in the classroom as an all-academic performer and heads into his final college season in graduate school.
And this season he will be surrounded on campus and on the football field by family, his younger brother and sister — quite a nice career.
But while he has been successful both on and off the field, the journey has been dotted with challenges. He was recruited and played early for David Cutcliffe then played two seasons under Mike Elko. Elko left for Texas A&M last winter, bringing Manny Diaz to Durham as Moore’s third head coach in four years. Obviously the play-calling has changed as well, from Jeff Faris to Kevin Johns to now former SMU quarterbacks coach Jonathan Brewer and his very up-tempo offense.
“The thing that stays common is the locker room and the culture,” Moore explained. “I think that's really what helps, the team support through uncertain times. For me personally it is the fact my parents told all my siblings that we don't commit to coaches, we commit to a school. Then no matter what happens with the coaches, everything would fall into place.
“I chose Duke for Duke and I obviously love the football here, but Duke was a school that I wanted to go to all my life, and I chose it for that reason.
“And you know, you can't really control how the coaches come in and out, but you can control how hard you work, and the success will be shown on the field,” he added
Along with making the adjustment to different coaches, Moore has worked with several different quarterbacks — Riley Leonard, Henry Belin and Grayson Loftis last year, and now a newcomer from Texas in Maalik Murphy.
“I think that adjustment to the quarterback comes with leadership and the understanding I have to be a leader to these quarterbacks and try to make them as comfortable as they can be out there,” he said. “If I do my job by getting open then it kind of puts them at ease. So obviously with our quarterback situation right now I'm the oldest, so I can support them, help them through it.
“If you think back two years ago, I was in the same position as them in a quarterback battle,” Moore continued. “I've taken everything I learned from my experience of being in the quarterback battle and tried to help them.”
He hasn’t had a season with Diaz yet, but has worked with him in spring practice and summer workouts and found him to be a true player’s coach and a strong defensive coach.
“Trying to go against Coach Diaz's defense every day is something that really has built my skillset and taught me things about the receiver position that I didn’t know previously,” Moore explained. “I am constantly learning and he is a great defensive mind, great coach, great person. So I feel I am constantly evolving and becoming a better person and a player at the same time.”
“He just wills things to happen with his work ethic,” explained Diaz, when asked about Moore. “He is, if you asked our players, probably the hardest worker on our football team.”
Along with a new coach, Moore also welcomed his younger brother Jayden to the team in January. Like Jordan, Jayden is a wide receiver and learning a great deal from his brother.
“I think I gave him all the tips and the secrets and tools to, you know, get through everything,” said the elder Moore. “His mindset and how he conducts himself gave him a head start. He just is very mature and he does things by the book. I try to help him as much as I can, but at the end of the day he was prepared to come here.”
Jayden joined the Blue Devils after having a successful career at Loyola Blakefield in Maryland, rated as a three-star prospect and listed as the No. 19 and No. 27 prospect in the state of Maryland by ESPN and Rivals, respectively.
“It’s been great,” said Jayden. “Jordan helps me through things but in a different perspective since he’s my brother. Obviously, I can trust everything he's saying because he's family and even before I got to Duke he was telling me things I should be preparing for. Having him as an older brother on the team is great”
And along with having a younger brother on the team, Jordan has a younger sister, Skylar, a rising junior at Duke who works in the football recruiting office.
“It’s really cool because she also works for the football team and the recruiting department,” said Jordan.
“Having my siblings here at Duke, we all have dinner every night, whether that be on campus or off campus. And we just try to stay in touch because having them here is just like a home away from home. It's great to be able to see them every day and to know you have people here to support you through everything.”
Jordan enters his last year as a Blue Devil being selected to the prestigious preseason watch list for the Maxwell Award, an honor presented to the top player in college football by the Maxwell Football Club.
His numbers at Duke have been amazing as he enters his fourth season in Durham, and third as a starting wideout. Last year he was a second-team All-ACC honoree, with a team-leading 62 receptions for 835 yards (13.47) and eight touchdowns in 13 games. He concluded the season tied for fourth in the ACC for receiving touchdowns, fifth in receptions, sixth in receiving yards and seventh in receptions per game and receiving yards per game.
His play has brought him preseason second team All-ACC selections entering 2024. In 36 career games (24 starts) he's logged 122 receptions for 1,491 yards (12.22) with 13 touchdowns and added 52 rushes for 256 yards (4.92) with three scores. Moore is one of just 18 Duke players to record a rushing, receiving and passing touchdown during a Duke career, after completing 9-of-19 pass attempts for 95 yards and one touchdown so far in his career. The Sykesville, Md., native is also riding a 26-game reception streak heading into the 2024 campaign.
The Moore brothers come from a very athletic family. Their father Percy played soccer at Goucher College, where he holds the all-time career goals (54) and points (133) records. A cousin, Bisi Owens, is a current member of the Pennsylvania football program, while cousin Wande Owens is a current member of the football program at Yale. Yet another cousin, Noah Bull, is on the football team at the United States Naval Academy.
Jordan graduated from Duke in May 2024 with a degree in psychology and a certificate in markets and management. Not surprisingly, the two time Academic All-ACC and National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society honoree is currently pursuing a master’s in management studies from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business.
“It's has been an adjustment just from undergrad, but like with everything you put the work in, then you're (in position to) get good,” Moore explained. “It's definitely important to stay disciplined. A Fuqua degree is so important and it looks great on the resume to have two degrees and learn so much for the future.”
(Writer Johnny Moore is no relation to Jordan, Jayden and Skylar Moore.)
This story originally appeared in the 2024 Duke Football Yearbook - August 2024. Dedicated to sharing the stories of Duke student-athletes, present and past, GoDuke The Magazine is published for Duke Athletics by LEARFIELD with editorial offices at 3100 Tower Blvd., Suite 404, Durham, NC 27707. To subscribe, join the Iron Dukes or call (336) 831-0767.