Owls’ Isaac Moore could extend football career to the professional level

One month before Temple’s Pro Day, left tackle Isaac Moore’s dream of becoming a professional football player came closer to reality.

In February, Moore was selected by the second-year franchise Philadelphia Stars with the 21st pick in the third round of the USFL Draft. Though, the Swedish native still participated in Temple’s Pro Day in front of representatives from 13 NFL teams.

“It felt great because that means that I can legally stay in America and play football,” Moore said. “I’m just staying in touch with my agent… really getting in football shape again.”

Moore spent five years at Temple, playing significant snaps each season.

He was recruited to Temple from the PPI Recruits service in Europe by offensive line coach Chris Wiesehan. Moore was one of the first five athletes to earn a scholarship with the help of PPI, a service that has now helped more than 120 athletes.

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Wiesehan coached Moore at Temple in 2018, before leaving to join former Owls coach Geoff Collins’ staff at Georgia Tech. He taught the early enrollee basic technique and cross-trained him to play all five positions on the offensive line.

The early hands-on coaching, Wiesehan said, was something Moore desperately needed.

“His film was terrible,” Wiesehan said, who came back to North Board under coach Stan Drayton last spring. “But he had a workout film that was elite and his movement patterns are extremely good. When he came on campus, his charisma, his personality, his willingness to learn was apparent and that really was what drew him to me.”

While at Temple, Moore was a five-time letter winner, a single-digit in 2022, and set a school record for consecutive games played with 57 — all at left tackle.

The only other player to letter as many times as Moore was his teammate Adam Klein, who found out Moore got drafted before he did, simply by scrolling through Twitter.

“I figured he would have gotten the call earlier in the day,” Klein said. “I was like, ‘You know you just got drafted, right?’ And he was like, ‘No, I had no idea.’”

Moore’s quick ability to learn an offense and leadership mentality, could make him a key addition to the Stars, who fell in the USFL Championship last season against the Birmingham Stallions.

Moore’s football IQ played a large part in his extensive field time. He adjusted well against other defensive line, which proved to be of service to freshman quarterback EJ Warner this past season.

“They’re so smart, so intelligent,” Warner said about Temple’s offensive line. “Just awesome people in general, so it’s just fun to be around them, be part of the game. Just grateful for what they did for this program. It’s going to live on forever.”

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Physically, Wiesehan said, Moore’s film against American Athletic Conference opponents — which he believes has been the best Group of Five conference for the past few years — should be enough for NFL scouts to want Moore.

He also pointed out how Moore has gone against top edge rushers every day in practice since arriving on North Board, namely 2022 All-AAC selections Layton Jordan and Darian Varner, Atlanta Falcons 2022 second-round pick Arnold Ebiketie, and Pittsburgh Steelers 2021 sixth-round pick Quincy Roche.

“He’s got great length,” Wiesehan said. “He’s got a strong punch and he’s got multiple sets that he can use... Iron sharpens iron, that’s been the key to this place.”

Moore earned his masters degree in English as a second language. He plans to pursue a profession in teaching back in Europe once his football career is over.

For now, Moore must wait to see if his name will be called at the 2023 NFL Draft — or if he’ll be offered a minicamp invite as an undrafted free agent. If the latter happens, he’ll have to choose between the difficult pursuit of an NFL roster spot or taking a contract with the Stars.