With Purdue closed, Rondale Moore putting in work at his Louisville gym
Chris Vaughn couldn't believe what he was seeing the day he took Rondale Moore to a boxing gym to develop his hands.
"I wanted him to work on using his hands better when it came to getting a release off the line against press coverage," said Vaughn.
Not only did Moore show his hands were quick on this day. He also showed they were deadly.
"He knocked out two professional boxers," fessed Vaughn. "Twitch, speed, power, elusiveness. He easily could be a pro boxer."
No doubt, it would be intriguing to see Moore in the ring--light heavyweight champ of the world, perhaps?--but his future is football. And that's why he works with Vaughn, the founder/CEO of Aspirations Fitness Institution in Louisville, Ky.
Vaughn bills his business as "Kentucky's ELITE training center and breeding ground for athletes." And this is the place where Moore has been hunkering down and training since Purdue closed it facilities in the wake of the pandemic.
The roll call of athletes who have matriculated through Aspirations is impressive. According to Vaughn, there have been over 100 Division I athletes train under his watch. One is Nebraska's Wan'Dale Robinson, a Kentucky native and one-time Purdue target who is similar to Moore in stature and skill-set. But it's difficult to think many--if any--other Aspirations clients could be more impressive than Moore.
The 5-9, 180-pound Moore exploded onto the college football scene in 2018, when he became the first true freshman in Big Ten history to earn consensus All-American honors. The New Albany, Ind., native shouted his introduction to the world in his debut vs. Northwestern, when he broke the school single-game record for most all-purpose yards (313). By the end of the season, Moore had made 114 catches for 1,258 yards and 12 touchdowns. A star was born.
But his 2019 season was aborted after just four games with 29 catches for 387 yards and two scores, when Moore injured his left hamstring vs. Minnesota. How does Moore look now?
"He looks even better," said Vaughn, who has been working with Moore since he was in middle school. "He has gotten even more explosive and gotten stronger. And he has become a better route-runner. You just don’t see kids like him. He’s an overachiever who's already better than everybody athletically."
Moore has been back in the Louisville area--where he attended Trinity High--since Purdue broke for spring break on March 13 after eight spring practices. Moore hasn't been back since, having to work out on his own.
Moore's work has been on display for the world to see, as a recent tweet showed him bench-pressing 405 pounds (see below). As a freshman, Moore showed off a 600-pound squat on social media.
"That guy isn’t even human," said Vaughn. "You know what I mean? The things he is doing … it's literally unreal. It’s super genetics, with a lot of hard work and a lot of determination and unwavering focus and determination to get to a goal.
"I got a video just to let you know. I had to watch the video (of the 405-pound bench) myself to make sure it was really happening."
Oh, it happened. Moore has been working out twice a day, six times a week with Vaughn this spring.
"The only day he takes off is Sunday," said Vaughn. "He has been going at it. The kid is a workhorse. Running, catching balls, bouncing balls, agility work, running routes, stuff like that. He’s being a pro."
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The mornings are devoted to weight training. The afternoons are dedicated to field work, with Moore catching 1,000 balls each workout.
"We are working with him on the top of his routes," said Vaughn. "He has some things he’s trying to clean up at the top of his routes, kind of dragging a foot and opening up and gaining more ground with the first three steps out of the break, which is how you separate. That’s really what we've been focusing on, short-area quickness. He runs away from everybody. We want him to gain more ground out of breaks and separating more."
Moore will be part of a Purdue receiving unit that could be the best ever in school annals. The sophomore wants to make the most of working with players like David Bell, Milton Wright, Amad Anderson, Jr. and Jackson Anthrop along with redshirt freshmen TJ Sheffield and Mershawn Rice and true freshmen Maliq Carr and Abdur-Rahmaan Yaseen. Moore is the straw that stirs the drink in West Lafayette. And Vaughn is getting him ready for what could be his final season.
"I think people have kind of forgotten how special he really is," said Vaughn. "We will gear up even more as he gets ready to make this jump next year, God willing, like you know what he's been working for these years."
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