Dante Moore Breaks Down Oregon Commitment
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Today was a historic day for the Oregon Ducks Football program. Coach Dan Lanning and his staff reeled in their biggest recruit to date, when Adidas All-American quarterback Dante Moore chose the Ducks over Michigan, Notre Dame, LSU and other top schools.
Oregon QB Commit Dante Moore
It's a game-changing pick-up for Oregon, who fills their empty QB slot in the 2023 class with the last five-star QB available and the No. 12 recruit in the nation. Moore becomes the fifth-best recruit to commit to Oregon all-time, and the top-ranked quarterback recruit in program history.
After announcing his decision on ESPN's SportsCenter, Moore broke down why the Ducks were the right landing spot for him.
Moore, when asked what led to his decision, started with the development of his relationship with Coach Lanning and his championship pedigree.
"Coach Lanning of course being the head coach," said Moore. "He just came off a national championship, so he knows what it takes to get to the national championship and what to build to a program."
Oregon QB Commit Dante Moore
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Moore said that when he visited Georgia in 2021 he didn't get to talk with Lanning because he was working with the defense. On the other hand, Moore said he had much more experience with Coach Kenny Dillingham seeing that the two had developed a relationship spanning multiple years.
"We're coming with Coach Dillingham -- great offensive coordinator, great quarterback coach," said Moore. "Our bond has been going on for about three plus years now."
Dillingham joined Oregon's staff after serving as the offensive coordinator for Mike Norvell in Tallahassee, and he kept a strong connection Moore despite his change in scenery.
"Before he took the [Oregon] job, and after he took the job of course he kept recruiting me."
After the staff, Moore made sure to give props to wealth of talent already on the Ducks' roster. He gave a special shoutout to Ducks' wide receiver Donte Thorton, who has been supporting Moore's move to Eugene with the hashtag #Dante2Donte.
"Of course, everybody has the hashtag #Dante2Donte," Moore said. "They have a lot of playmakers, a lot of people to help me get to where I need to be."
Oregon QB Commit Dante Moore
A huge piece of today's recruiting game is name, image and likeness deals. But Moore emphasized that N.I.L. was not a major factor in his recruitment.
"N.I.L.--everybody wants to take the biggest schools offering them the most money, but for me as a young kid that enjoys football and can really just be to better myself and give back," Moore said regarding his main goals in college. "If N.I.L. comes with how I play, it comes with how I play. But that's not a big piece of my recruitment."
The hot topic in college football this week has been UCLA and USC leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten. Moore was able to speak with USC's 2023 quarterback commit Malachi Nelson about the move when the two were at the Elite 11 Finals. Moore had some encouraging words for Ducks fans.
"I've talked with him about how everything works because I thought a lot of the Big Ten was Midwest schools and a lot of the West Coast teams are gonna start to join it," said Moore. "If Oregon joins, if Oregon stays, it's going to be competition anywhere."
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