Scholar Athlete of the Week: Hancock’s Dylan Moran

BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - The Hancock Hawks football program is off to its best start since 2000.

A program that developed one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game is watching its newest signal-caller put together a season that could top any before him. Dylan Moran not only excels on the field but also has a stellar 3.8 GPA in the classroom.

“One coach told me “student” comes first in “student-athlete,” Moran said. “During the day, my main focus is grades. And then we come to practice, and I lock in on football. And there’s always homework and stuff and I get it done. But yeah, student first.”

Across the Coast, Moran is recognized as one of the most dangerous quarterbacks on the field, but it’s the off-the-field intangibles that stick out to his coaches and teammates.

“He really represents us all well,” teammate Zach Gullung said. “He is a great student-athlete. I believe he maintains a straight-A GPA. It’s pretty impressive. And he still comes to the field, performs, and leads all of us. It gives us more confidence in the locker room.”

“He’s taken things in stride,” Hancock Head Football Coach Neil Lollar added. “He’s done a good job since getting playing time as a sophomore all the way through now in his senior year. He’s developed not just physically, but he’s also developed as far as what our scheme is and how to grasp it and I think he does a good job of making sure we’re in good positions to be successful and that’s huge.”

Moran’s success in the academic classroom has correlated to success in the football classroom. A huge part of a football player’s development is their ability to study film and apply it to the game field.

“You learn how to take notes in the classroom, and I have brought those skills over to how I watch film and how I take my notes and remember stuff,” claimed Moran.

“Not only does he do the work on the field, but off the field, he does as well, Lollar said.” He does film review; he does a good job.”

When his time at Hancock comes to an end, Moran wants to continue his football career while also studying engineering with hopes of following in his role model’s footsteps.

I’m planning on going to school for engineering,” said Moran. “My dad does civil construction, so I was thinking about being a civil engineer. He’s pretty much a coach to me. We spend hours talking about football every week.”

Despite racking up wins over his career, Moran continues to stay humble, something that has also rubbed off on his peers.

“When we were growing up, my team didn’t really win a lot, but Dylan’s team always beat us,” Gullung claimed. “We’ve always been humble because we realize nothing’s guaranteed. We can’t get too excited and think, oh, we earned this, we deserve that. We have to keep working for it.”

“I just like to stay humble because you can’t let the other guys see you boasting and bragging,” Moran said. “You got to let them know that you’re a student-athlete, a player, just like they are.”

Click here to subscribe to WLOX News on YouTube: Keep up with South Mississippi news, sports, and local events on our YouTube channel!

Copyright 2023 WLOX. All rights reserved.