In Colorado football’s preseason camp, Tyler Moore quietly turned heads in the defensive line room. Not by his size, but by his ability to get off the football.
Joining the team in the spring, Moore is smaller than the average defensive tackle at just 5-foot-10 and 290 pounds. Playing for Coastal Carolina in 2025, he only appeared in six games, making just nine tackles.
Knowing where Moore had to improve during the summer, he got to work and made changes. Teammate Dylan Manuel has been put on notice by Moore’s speed.
“He's putting on tape every single day. And we go by ‘what you put on tape is your resume,’” Manuel told BuffStampede.com. “So he's stood out to me the most, and I really try to compete with him because he has probably one of the fastest, if not the fastest, get-off in the room.”
Every rep in practice is recorded and documented on a day-to-day basis. This helps to determine which lineman gets out of their stance and takes their first step the quickest (also known as the get-off).
While it can be just as simple as watching the ball, with tricky quarterback cadences and silent snaps, a good get-off is hard to master. Down and distance, situation and personnel could all affect a lineman’s ability to react to the snap.
Even with those factors, Moore has mastered his technique at Colorado.
“We just compete back and forth. We have this thing in the room called ‘Get-Off King,’” Manuel said. “He's up on me right now because of situations, but I just try to compete with him every day.”
Although Moore wasn’t penciled in at the top of the rotation during spring, depth issues in the defensive tackle room have added to the need for more linemen to step up. With his low center of gravity, Moore is able to get up under blockers and use his leverage to his advantage.
Moore’s skill set has fit in well so far with his new teammates in Boulder.
“As a group collectively, we're learning who coaches are learning to put in together. [We’ve] just bonded,” Moore told BuffStampede.com. “Everybody has different specialties. So nobody ever knows what's coming.”
For Moore, one of the biggest reasons for his elevated play has been working with defensive line coach Dante “Coach Pun” Carter. The drastic changes in Moore’s readiness for Big 12 play all come from the first-year position coach.
“Coach Pun is fun to be around. Always laughing, always trying to teach the technique,” Moore said. “Just getting vertical, getting off the ball and working on my hands. Every day, he brings the energy.”
While Moore may not be a starter for the Buffs this fall, he will be a key component for Colorado’s defense. Going into his third season of college football, Moore is expecting to take a leap up in production. One step at a time–or one get-off.
“I say, just keep watching. It's going to be a movie all year,” Moore said.
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