INDIANAPOLIS — Louis Moore said he's been "last to eat" throughout his whole career, for everything he's worked for.
The safety didn’t play in high school until his senior year, spent seven years in college and played six years at three schools, including a misdiagnosed torn ACL in 2020.
Now, he's leaving Indiana football as an undefeated national champion. While he’s a projected fourth-round selection in the NFL draft, waiting for an NFL general manager's phone call, he said, won't be challenging. His path is why.
Moore knew what Indiana football once was.
After spending two seasons in Bloomington under former head coach Tom Allen, the safety endured a 7-17 stretch that ended with Allen’s dismissal after 2023. The Hoosiers hired head coach Curt Cignetti four days later — the same day Moore entered the transfer portal.
Moore landed at the University of Mississippi ahead of 2024 before transferring back to Indiana for 2025.
Over a month after Indiana went 16-0 and won the national championship in Moore’s sixth and final collegiate season, one lesson from his time as a Hoosier stood above all.
“I’d say cherish the moments, opportunities, because I honestly do miss going, waking up every day, being with my teammates — my brothers,” Moore said Thursday inside the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. “So, that’s something I do miss.”
Moore played an integral role in the Cream and Crimson’s success en route to the pinnacle of college football, totaling 88 tackles, six interceptions and four pass deflections. All the statistics earned him first-team All-Big Ten and second-team All-America honors.
And it all came at a place he didn’t want to depart.
“I honestly never really wanted to leave Indiana,” Moore said. “Coach Allen got fired and stuff just played out the way it played out.”
The Hoosiers offered Moore his first Division I opportunity. After three years at Navarro Community College in Corsicana, Texas, where he primarily lined up as a receiver, Moore played safety with the Hoosiers for two seasons.
Then, what Cignetti described several times throughout the season as a “business decision” followed and Moore left for Ole Miss. He played in 11 of the Rebels’ 13 games and made two starts under then-head coach Lane Kiffin.
But his lone season in Oxford, Mississippi, wasn’t what he wanted, he said. Moore’s campaign, which was riddled with injuries, left him wanting more. He wanted to “be at peace” with his football journey, so he entered the portal once more.
When Moore went through his portal process the previous offseason, he still spent time around the new Hoosiers and built relationships. He was even familiar with strength coaches and position coaches.
Cignetti made another “business decision.” Both sides wanted a reunion. It followed.
“It was just coming back to the family, for real,” Moore said.
The Indiana team Moore returned to before 2025 was far different from the one he was previously accustomed to. Allen’s “Love Each Other” mantra was gone. A far stricter, business-oriented program now existed in Bloomington.
And a new expectation resided within the locker room.
“I know he cut a lot of people,” Moore said. “If you wasn’t living to the standard, you wasn’t going to play. It wasn’t no bare minimum with Coach Cig. Even if the standard was high, it was never good enough. He let that be known.”
Moore fought for his eligibility, suing the NCAA in hopes of playing the entire 2025 season — which he said he needed to earn an NFL Scouting Combine invite and help his career — before being awarded a temporary injunction in late September. The NCAA has since threatened to enforce restitution upon Moore.
While Moore admitted the uncertainty regarding his eligibility weighed on him throughout the weeks leading up to the first four games of the season, Cignetti singled out his safeties for what could’ve turned into costly mistakes.
Whether the Hoosiers earned a dominant victory or slugged out a few road wins, Cignetti’s standard remained the same.
“Every meeting he came in, he was just real strict until we won the national championship,” Moore said. “That’s how it’s supposed to be.”
Moore hasn’t had much downtime since the season ended. He went directly into training two to three times per day in preparation for the combine — an event just two Indiana players were invited to the combine across his previous two seasons in Bloomington. This year, Moore is one of nine.
“Indiana’s trajectory is changing for the future and the dynasty is starting,” he said.
Moore sought peace. A Hoosier reunion followed. History did, too, establishing what Indiana football is now.
It’s been seven years since Moore embarked on his college football career. Looking back, he said he’d tell his younger self that giving up wouldn’t have been worth it.
“I’d tell him I’m proud of him,” Moore said. “All the tears, the emotions, the frustration — it gets better with time.”
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football offseason.
