Early Career
Moody was born to Young Sun (née Chang) as the youngest of three children, raised in the Dallas, Texas area. His father left the family early, leaving him to be raised by his mother and his grandmother, Han Soon Chang. And Moody's uncle began helping him practice and train for football after seeing how well he performed in pee wee football.
Physically a late bloomer, coaches initially hesitated to put him in the running back role that he desired. When his family moved to the suburb of Coppell, Texas, Coppell High School already had a highly regarded senior running back, one of the best in school history, and asked the sophomore Moody to spend a season at wide receiver. After insistence by himself and his uncle, Moody was allowed to play running back at the junior varsity level. During that time, Moody grew taller and put on 25 pounds. His junior season saw him rise to the varsity team where he finished the season with 1,319 yards and 12 touchdowns. His abilities attracted interest from a number of prominent college football programs, notably Texas, Miami and Southern California. Moody originally verbally committed to Texas, but USC linebacker coach Ken Norton was able to eventually persuade Moody to change his commitment to the Trojans, enticing him to the challenge of competing against a number of other talented running backs.
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