"NIL money is not NFL money": Star recruits Julian Lewis & Dakorien Moore get 100% real on staying motivated following HS football fame

Julian Lewis and Dakorien Moore are two of the top prospects of the 2025 class. With their respective college careers set to take off, they've opened up on how they continue to stay motivated at this level.

The two were guests on the "Pivot Podcast" hosted by Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder and Fred Taylor on Thursday. Speaking on how he stays motivated as a new college enrollee, Lewis said (4:10),

“Just thinking of college not being the end goal," Lewis said. "Like, I mean, all of us want to make it to the league. So there's no reason to kind of just set ourselves to that standard, and just the college’s standard cos the league is the goal. NIL money is not NFL money. That's kind of how I put it in my mind. So I try to move like that.”

Addressing the same question, Oregon wideout enrollee Dakorien Moore emphasized the role of learning humility from the success of others. He said,

“I would just say I've been getting humbled seeing NFL players and college players doing it on another level higher than I do," Moore said. "I haven't experienced a lot, you know. I haven't really touched a lot of success. I only did so much in high school. You know high school only gets you so far.”

Moore is On3 Industry Ranking's No. 1 wide receiver in his class. The five-star receiver from Duncanville (TX) snubbed Texas, Ohio State, LSU and Oklahoma to sign with Oregon.

Despite his exploits in the previous level, Moore is still in the process of figuring out how he can improve his gameplay in college. Faced with the question, he said,

"Man, that's hard. There’s a lot. Just coming into a different level of football, there’s a lot to learn, I don’t even know yet. I’ll have to see from other players,” Moore said.

Julian Lewis’ competition for Colorado starting role

Julian Lewis, on the other hand, must compete for Colorado's starting quarterback role with Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter. Colorado fans are looking forward to seeing their star signing from the last recruiting cycle deliver a five-star performance at the Buffs’ upcoming spring game.

The standout quarterback out of Carrollton (GA) is expected to continue Shedeur Sanders’ legacy as Colorado's quarterback by next fall. Sanders led the Buffs’ offense in the last two seasons, and Julian Lewis was recruited as his direct replacement.

Lewis finished his high school career with 11,010 passing yards and 144 touchdowns.