He was a machine gunner with the U.S. Marines Corps for four years before joining the Flyers.
He’s the only player on the UD roster to have served in the military.
He’s also been married to wife Sidney for five years.
And at 25, he believes he’s the oldest player on the team. “Yeah, I’m older than some of the coaches,” he said with a laugh.
In many ways, Moell is not the typical student athlete, but all that adds up to something that makes him unique, something that sets him apart said Flyers’ head coach Trevor Andrews:
“He gives us a different perspective. You always benefit from a guy who has been in life’s situations, from a guy who has really lived it.”
Andrews said when Moell shares the things he’s learned – not necessarily verbally, often just by example – it strikes a chord with his teammates:
“It’s not coming from a coach, a person of authority, it’s coming from one of their own who’s had the opportunity to experience a little more (than they have). You can make an impact on a team then and he has. He has developed into a good leader.”
And he’s done this by beating the odds.
Moell joined the Flyers, then coached by Rick Chamberlin, as a 5-foot-6 walk-on, five years removed from competitive football.
He had been a standout at West Liberty Salem High, where he played three years of varsity football, including a year with his older brother Dusty, who also was a receiver.
Credit: Gracie Foell
Credit: Gracie Foell
By his senior year, Levi was the team MVP and won second team All-Ohio honors.
The family had a history of producing college athletes. His grandmother, she was then Shirley Altoc, was on the Ohio State gymnastics team from 1964-1968.
His mom, Becky Brandt – now Becky Moell, an English teacher at West Liberty Salem – was a track standout at the school. Her school record in the 400 meters stood for 30 years.
At Taylor University, an NAIA school in Indiana, she won the conference championship in the 1,500 meters and was part of the school’s record relay team.
Recently, Levi’s younger sister, Lydia, who was a prominent part of the West Liberty Salem girls track team that won state in 2019, was a pole vaulter at West Virginia University until injuries cut short her career there and she transferred to Ohio State.
Levi’s dad, Chris, was a good, multi-sport athlete at National Trail High and then became a lawyer.
Rather than college, Levi initially chose the Marine Corps, saying:
“I just felt the need to serve.”
Life lessons
“Being part of the military is what he always wanted to do,” Becky said. “I remember when he was a little boy, he and his friends, especially one friend in particular – Kody – would always play ‘Army.’
“They called it that because they didn’t know any of the other branches.”
As he stood on the field at Welcome Stadium during Media Day last week, Levi said he wasn’t sure how the seeds of that military inspiration had been sewn:
“As a kid, I read a lot of books and watched movies. That could be it. And our family has a great respect for the military.”
He said when Dusty and Lydia graduated from high school, their parents helped them with their college funds.
Although he was a decent student in high school – his mom said he had a B average even though he never brought a book home – Levi admitted he didn’t tackle his academics with the same fervor as he did football:
“I remember my dad sat me down and said, ‘If you want to go to college, I’m not going to help you right away.’
“He thought I’d waste it, and he was right. And I told him, ‘That’s OK, I don’t want to go to college. I’m going to the Marines.’”
Becky said he chose the Marines “because he thought it’d present the toughest physical challenge.”
It did far more than that for him he now says.
As a machine gunner stationed mostly at Camp LeJeune in North Carolina and later deployed to Japan, Cpl. Moell developed a new sense of purpose and a better appreciation of academics:
“The Marine Corps shaped me up in a lot of ways,” he said. “It taught me a lot of lessons I use in life now.
“I was more of a shy kid in high school, but in the Marines, I met a lot of people from a lot of different backgrounds. It helped me grow and learn to get along with everybody.
“That’s where you learn teamwork and communication and how absolutely critical they are in doing what we did there.
“And in the Marine Corps, that’s where I figured out what I wanted to do in life. If I would have gone to college straight out of high school, I wouldn’t have had any idea what major to take.
“In the Marines, I fell in love with working out and strength and conditioning and I figured out that’s what I wanted to do afterwards. So I worked a little harder.”
He decided he wanted to pursue a career in physical therapy and working with athletes after he left the Marines. And thanks to his military service, he was able to go to college for free, he said.
As that idea was formulating, he rekindled his love of playing football and became determined to find the school with the “highest level program where I’d have a chance to play.”
And that eventually led him to UD.
‘Bigger than just me’
“When I came here, I wasn’t sure if I’d fit in,” he said.
Besides the age difference and military detour, he was married to his high school sweetheart, Sidney Waibel, who went to Graham High. In storybook fashion, they met after a high school football game.
As a married student, he doesn’t live on or around campus. The couple first lived in Huber Heights and now they’re in Tipp City.
As for the trepidation about being part of the team, he quickly found those fears to be unfounded:
“I fit in great. I love it. I love the guys here and I love being a part of a team, part of something that’s bigger than just me.”
He redshirted his first season (2022) and the next year, he played in just one game, although he was center stage on Military Appreciation Day that year and led the Flyers onto the field against Taylor University carrying the American flag.
Last season he again got in just one game.
All three years though he’s been on the Pioneer Football League (PFL) Academic Honor Roll.
He didn’t balk at switching positions this spring. “Honestly, I always felt I was more of a running back. I’m small and short and stocky. It seems to fit.”
Since high school, he’s muscled up from 140 pounds to his current 185.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
He’s now moved up to third string and for the first time in his career, he will be travelling with the team on all its road games this season.
“He really took some strides in the spring that I didn’t see coming,” Andrews said. “He just has a lot of determination. He could help us this season.”
Although he might provide firepower as a former machine gunner, Levi has given the Flyers more than that, Becky said:
“He’s just a great teammate. He’d rather win as a team than get personal glory.”
And that, said Andrews, truly is perspective.
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