Dante Moore was back on Oregon’s radar with a phone call to Dan Lanning in December.
But the two didn’t talk about football, at least not at first.
The former UCLA quarterback, who was once committed to Lanning and the Ducks, reached out to the Oregon coach shortly after entering the transfer portal when the 2023 regular season ended.
“I called him, just to see how life was going,” Moore said Thursday. “My mom, unfortunately, she had breast cancer and I went through that all season. She was diagnosed with it during spring formal last year, so actually the first things he asked me was to check on my mom.
Moore’s mother got better. Your own prospects for personal growth also seem to be trending in the same direction.
The path to Oregon hasn’t been the simplest for Moore, a former five-star recruit in the class of 2023 who was ranked as the No. 2 overall player in the country by ESPN and No. 3 overall by 247Sports.
He was verbally committed to the Ducks during the fall of 2022, so Switched to the Bruins just before the start of the early signing period that December.
The Detroit native said his change of heart came after Oregon offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham was named head coach at Arizona State in November 2022.
“As a quarterback, your OC needs to be your best friend,” Moore said, adding that he and Will Stein — Dillingham’s replacement at Oregon — hastily tried to build a relationship, but ultimately he opted to sign with UCLA and play as a coach. ChipKelly.
Dante Moore plays with mistakes at UCLA
Moore, who the Bruins list as 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds, played in nine games and made five starts for UCLA last season. He completed 114 of 213 passes (53.5%) for 1,610 yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
He began his career throwing for 615 yards, seven TDs and one interception in his first three games as the Bruins opened 3-0.
Then came a brutal stretch for the freshman. In consecutive games against then-No. 11 Utah, then-No. 13 at Washington State and then 15 at Oregon State, he threw for 689 yards, three TDs, six interceptions and was sacked 16 times.
He also had an interception returned for a touchdown in each of those games.
“It was like my freshman year of high school,” Moore said. “I remember my freshman year of high school I had 12 picks and I was like ‘Damn, what are you doing?’ But at the end of senior year I made two choices. And at the end of the day, it’s about development. College football is tough.
Once the season ended, Moore said there was a feeling around the program that changes were coming, and sure enough, in early February, Kelly left Westwood for Ohio State to be the Buckeyes’ offensive coordinator.
Moore was long gone, having transferred to Oregon in mid-December.
“When I got to the portal… I already knew where I was going,” Moore said. “(Lanning) just checked on me, laughed, joked, had a visitor here and I knew it was time to come back.”
Dante Moore learning from Dillon Gabriel
Before Moore’s transfer, the Ducks had already signed Oklahoma transfer Dillon Gabriel, a sixth-year senior and veteran of 49 career starts who enters 2024 tied for fourth in NCAA history in total career touchdowns ( 152), seventh in total yards (15,925), eighth in passing yards (14,865) and eighth in passing touchdowns (125).
Gabriel is the presumed one-year replacement for Bo Nix, the 2023 Heisman Trophy finalist who led the Ducks to a 12-2 record and victory in the Fiesta Bowl.
“You know, DG, he’s been around college football for a while,” Moore said. “Really, when I got here, no coldness, no bitterness, I’m just grateful to be around him. He taught me a lot of things and I ask him a lot of questions.”
Moore said he’s competing with Gabriel every day and is thrilled to be in the Oregon locker room, even though it took another year to get there.
Still, he said he doesn’t regret his trip to Eugene.
“I was blessed to play college football at age 18 as a true freshman,” Moore said. “I learned a lot, I made a lot of mistakes, but at the end of the day all I can do is learn.”
Follow Chris Hansen on X @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Quarterback Dante Moore on his journey from UCLA to Oregon football
