Chip Kelly addresses Dante Moore's confidence after throwing three interceptions

During his time at UCLA, quarterback Dante Moore has flashed the brilliance that made him such an important recruit for head coach Chip Kelly. However, against Oregon State on Saturday, he struggled and ultimately made several freshman mistakes that contributed to the loss for UCLA.

Among those mistakes were three interceptions that could easily shake his confidence. However, according to Kelly, Moore isn’t the type of player or person to have his confidence shaken so easily.

“I think that’s part of Dante’s makeup,” Chip Kelly said. “I think he’s a very resilient young man. He’s mature beyond most kids of that age. He’s still an 18-year-old kid, 18-year-old young man.”

In the 36-24 loss to Oregon State, Dante Moore completed just 14 out of 33 pass attempts for 165 yards, a touchdown, and three interceptions. It was the second tough road start he’s had after struggling against Utah. However, he’s been good overall as a freshman, throwing for 1,304 yards and 10 touchdowns to seven interceptions.

“But I think that’s one of the things. He’s got a great set of intangibles. He’s a really, really resilient person. I think he has the ability to live in the present. He doesn’t live in the past. He doesn’t live in the future. He lives in the present and that’s a really special quality for people to have,” Chip Kelly said.

“So, I think it’s something in every situation he learns and he’ll grow from it.”

Despite some growing pains, overall, Dante Moore has lived up to his recruiting hype. Moore was a five-star recruit and the second-ranked quarterback in the 2023 recruiting cycle, according to the On3 Industry Rankings. Chip Kelly didn’t start Moore Week 1, but he did see the field and quickly became the starter after that.

Chip Kelly on conference realignment

This is the last season with the Pac-12 competing as it has been known before 10 of the schools are going to leave for new conferences. That break-up comes as the conference has become one of the most competitive in all of college football.

For his part, UCLA head coach Chip Kelly wishes this wasn’t the case and that the Pac-12 could stick together.

“It’s all sad. I have feelings on the whole thing. I think that we should all still be together. Some people should be able to work that out. Let’s criticize them. Let’s not criticize the high school athletes. Let’s criticize the people that are making really good money that have put us in this situation,” Kelly said.

“It is sad and I’ve had some great games. Really enjoyed playing up there. Stanford’s had such a great tradition of football players, especially in the last 10 or 15 years. The Andrew Lucks and the Toby Gerharts. The Kodi Whitfields — I gotta make sure I say that. There’s been some tremendous players there and great rivalries. Zach Ertz is one of the all-time best tight ends to play in this conference and has had a tremendous career in the NFL. So that part’s a little, you know.

“We’re gonna keep saying that every week cause there’s only four of us going to one league and another four going to another league and two that didn’t get taken anywhere. My feeling on that, I think we should be able to find a way. You never know in this world.”