UCLA’s highest-rated recruit in the Chip Kelly era is leaving the program after just one season. And he doesn’t seem too satisfied with how his season went.
Dante Moore announced on Thursay that he is entering the transfer portal. Moore was a 5-star recruit out of Detroit, Michigan and chose UCLA after decommitting from Oregon.
In a statement to 247 Sports, Moore emphasized that he wants to go somewhere that prioritizes his development.
“For these next upcoming years, I just want to go to a place where I can get developed,” Moore told 247Sports. “That’s the main thing is really development, making sure you’re bettering yourself every day and having a staff around you that’s going to help develop you. So I’d say the biggest things are going to a place where I can get developed and continue to love and have fun playing football and be around a place that loves college football and be around great athletes.”
It sounds like Moore does not feel like the staff at UCLA helped develop him in a way that he wanted.
Things between Moore and UCLA began rosy but quickly went downhill.
Moore and Ethan Garbers, who had been with UCLA since 2021, were both given chances to perform at the beginning of the season. They both saw action in the opener against Coastal Carolina. While Garbers played fine, Moore excelled and was effectively named the winner of the competition.
Moore was the starter for UCLA’s second game and looked great against San Diego State. While the true freshman, looked really good in his first few games (all non-conference and against weaker competition), things changed once conference play began.
The former 5-star QB displayed shaky play against Utah, Washington State and Oregon State. He threw pick-sixes in all three games, and UCLA went 1-2 in that stretch to fall to 4-2.
For their next game, Kelly started Garbers, who led the team to wins over Stanford and Colorado. Garbers remained the starter but both he and Moore got hurt against Arizona. UCLA then started third-string QB Colin Schlee in an ugly home loss to 3-9 Arizona State.
Garbers was healthy enough to start against rival USC and led the team to a win, but he was knocked out in the team’s first series against Cal. Moore came in and ended up playing nearly the entire game against Cal. He looked flat-footed in the pocket, unable to move past his first read (often Logan Loya), and completely overmatched against the Golden Bears. He appeared to completely lack confidence.
Moore was never the same player after being benched by UCLA. Rather than let the freshman work through his struggles, it seemed like Kelly decided he needed to go with the guy who was more ready to help the team win now — Garbers. That move may have helped UCLA achieve 7 wins — including a huge one over USC — that probably allowed Kelly to keep his job. But it appears to have cost the program Moore.
Reporter Bruce Feldman mentioned Michigan State as a program to watch for the Detroit native Moore.
https://twitter.com/BruceFeldmanCFB/status/1730337654322213111
UCLA may look to the transfer portal to find competition for Garbers, who is entering his fourth season with the Bruins.
