Austin Moore might be Kansas State’s latest walk-on success story at linebacker
Austin Moore doesn’t have much of a recruiting story to tell.
Ask the junior linebacker if he considered playing college football anywhere other than Kansas State, back when he was finishing up his high school career in Louisburg, and he isn’t sure how to respond.
“I mean, I would have considered other places but I didn’t have a whole lot of other options,” Moore said. “This was the main place. Once I got this opportunity, I knew I really wanted to come here.”
Moore has mostly flown under the radar since he arrived in Manhattan as a walk-on. Few, if any, other college teams wanted him on their roster as a freshman. Few noticed when he made his first appearance in a game in 2020 or even when he was awarded a scholarship last spring coming off a season in which he made 18 tackles.
But it is time for K-State fans to get to know him. Moore might be next in a long line of successful walk-on stories for the Wildcats.
He is slated as a starting linebacker for Saturday’s season-opening game against South Dakota. More than that, coaches and teammates are expecting big things from him. Some think he might be the best linebacker on the entire defense. At the least, he appears capable of filling Cody Fletcher’s shoes.
“I would say he is probably having the best camp of all the linebackers,” K-State linebackers coach Steve Stanard said a few weeks ago. “He is a really smart football player and he has really developed instinctively from where he was at a year ago ... He has really, really put himself in a position that he deserves. He really stepped up.”
Perhaps that shouldn’t come as a surprise.
After all, Moore’s rise up the depth chart could easily be explained by his nickname. Teammates like to call him “The Machine.”
“I like that nickname because he is about his business,” K-State quarterback Adrian Martinez said. “He makes sure to come to work every day and bring that same intensity. He has done a good job so far and I am excited to see him on the field.”
Added senior linebacker Daniel Green: “Austin is a smart, smart football player and a really aggressive player, too. I am excited to play with him this year, because I think he is going to surprise people.”
K-State coach Chris Klieman first realized Moore was a future scholarship player last season. Fletcher often sat out practices to keep his legs fresh for games, which gave Moore plenty of opportunities to play with the starting defense.
He more than held his own.
“He had a ton of reps,” Klieman said. “Austin just continued to learn the system and learn how to play. He’s a guy that you could flip on the film of last year, last fall camp and special teams and you can just tell he knows how to play -- block destruction, angles, knowing our defense. He’s a quiet kid, but he’s one of the best communicators out there on the football field.”
Even though he was overlooked as a high school recruit, it wasn’t difficult for Moore to envision one day starting for the Wildcats.
K-State has traditionally given its walk-ons more opportunities than other programs to prove themselves, earn scholarships and play. He figured if he put in enough hard work, he would eventually be noticed.
Mission accomplished.
“There are so many guys who have done it before me,” Moore said. “There are so many examples to go off. That was definitely a big thing for me.”
This story was originally published September 1, 2022 at 1:18 PM with the headline "Austin Moore might be Kansas State’s latest walk-on success story at linebacker."