Moon shot
Jeremiah Moon is feeling good, and that’s good news for the University of Florida football team.
Moon, a Hoover High School alumnus, suffered a season-ending injury last September only two games into his true freshman season.
He was forced to take a medical redshirt after fracturing major parts of his thumb during a pass-rushing drill in practice.
“I went down to catch myself from falling, and I just fell on my thumb,” Moon said.
But his injury fully healed by fall’s end, which enabled him to practice without a hand brace throughout preseason sessions in the spring and summer. Now, he appears poised for a comeback campaign as a redshirt freshman.
Moon said he will likely see playing time at the Sam linebacker position — on the strong side of the defense — and at defensive end in third-down situations. Already, he has totaled five tackles in two games.
“I’m just working hard trying to make myself better every day,” Moon said. “As long as I’m giving my best, that’s all I can do.”
Moon came out of Hoover as a highly-rated linebacker recruit, earning the four-star distinction from 247Sports. He drew offers from schools across the Power Five conferences.
In the end, Moon’s list boiled down to Florida, South Carolina and Mississippi State. One year in, he said he made the right choice in choosing to become a Gator.
“Everything’s going well,” said Moon, who is deciding between majoring in sports management and marketing. “I’ve just gotten to know a lot of people, and the coaches have been extremely helpful. Their doors are always open if I need someone to talk to.”
Moon credited the Hoover football program and head coach Josh Niblett for preparing him for the next level. The emphasis on structure, punctuality and responsibility was no foreign concept to Moon when he arrived in Gainesville. Attention to detail was already embedded in his psyche.
“He was real business-like, real professional,” Niblett said of his former star. “When you’re like that, you allow yourself an opportunity to be prepared when you get to thenext level.”
Niblett recognized Moon’s potential from his days in youth football, when he played for longtime youth coach Greg Blackman on the Hoover Raiders. As a sixth grader, Moon stood out as an anomaly.
He was the tallest kid on the field but still played running back — a position usually reserved for more compact body types.
“Watching his speed and the way he could change directions, and just how good he was in space, I knew he had a chance to be special,” Niblett said.
Moon proved him right. Niblett watched as the lanky middle schooler blossomed into an All-State outside linebacker who helped propel the Bucs to back-to-back state titles in 2013 and 2014. His impact on the program remains palpable.
“He left a legacy behind that a lot of guys feel like they have to answer to and try to add to,” Niblett said. “That’s what you want in your program.”
Moon is now aiming to establish a similar reputation at Florida and his high school coach doesn’t see why that won’t happen. Niblett said he’s noticed continued physical, mental, social and spiritual growth in Moon since he departed for Gainesville.
The physical development is especially evident.
Moon has shot from 6-foot-4 to 6-6 over the past year and has bulked up to 228 pounds. Comparisons in the media have likened him to former Gator Jevon Kearse, an All-American linebacker who played for more than a decade in the NFL.
Niblett said he wouldn’t be surprised if Moon — with his physical ability and studious approach — eventually ends up on a professional sideline. The sky, Niblett said, appears to be the limit.
On Saturdays this fall, the former Buc will be shooting for the moon.
“I just want to be that guy that makes plays all around the field, just a guy that flies around to the ball,” Moon said. “I just want to make my presence known this year.”