Dante Moore reveals why he chose to play for UCLA

One of the top quarterback recruits in the country in the Class of 2023, Dante Moore, wasn’t chasing sunny skies or Los Angeles life when he made his decision to head across the country from Detroit to play at UCLA. For Moore, now a true freshman after enrolling early, it was all about the chance to learn from Bruins head coach Chip Kelly.

Citing Kelly’s time at Oregon developing offenses and quarterbacks that stormed opponents for oodles of points and a stint in the NFL, Moore said Kelly would put him in a position to succeed. From Marcus Mariota to Michael Vick, Kelly has worked with a number of great college and pro quarterbacks.

“I mean, coach Kelly, him being one of the greatest head coaches to be doing it right now in college football. Him being a coach in the NFL, coaching at the highest level. And him just having the resume he has and coaching great quarterbacks like Marcus Mariota, Mike Vick and everybody. That just really drew my attention. When he was at Oregon, the Oregon days, he had Marcus Mariota in an explosive offense. I knew me being a quarterback there, that would be a great development for me. I’m just blessed to be with him,” Moore said.

A five star-plus recruit and the No. 3 overall player in the 2023 class according to the On3 Industry Ranking, Moore originally committed to Oregon to be with then-offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham. When Dillingham became the Arizona State head coach, Moore came back on the market.

At that point Kelly swooped in and got Moore, a state champion as the quarterback for Detroit Martin Luther King High School, to sign with UCLA.

And while Moore excelled as a high school quarterback running the offense his coaches put forth, the offense Kelly has tasked him and the other quarterbacks with mastering has another notch or two of complexity. Moore is already diving into the challenge.

“When I first came in from high school, we had a great offensive system there, but really, coming in here, it’s an NFL-style offense. It’s a lot of different things change if you’re at the line of scrimmage. Or if you see different types of coverage, what to adjust about. It’s really complicated, but I know I’m going with the flow of everything. Appreciate coach [Ryan Gunderson] and the quarterbacks in the quarterback room to help me out understanding the offense and I’m just thankful to be a part of the offense,” Moore said.

With Kelly at the helm at UCLA, the chance to become another quarterback who excelled under him was too appealing for Moore to pass up. Plus, a little sunshine probably doesn’t hurt, either.