5-star QB Dante Moore flips commitment from Oregon to UCLA

The early signing period does not begin until Wednesday, but Chip Kelly and UCLA have already made a major splash.

Dante Moore, a five-star quarterback recruit from Detroit, announced Monday that he has flipped his commitment from Oregon to UCLA.

Moore committed to Oregon back in July, but switched over to UCLA after visiting campus last week.

Moore is rated as the fourth-best prospect in the class of 2023 and ranks behind only Arch Manning (Texas) and Nico Iamaleava (Tennessee) among quarterbacks. Additionally, Moore is rated two spots above Malachi Nelson, who has pledged to USC.

It’s a major addition for the Bruins as Moore is the first five-star prospect to commit to the program since Kelly took over in 2018. Fittingly, Dorian Thompson-Robinson was the highest-ranked recruit to pledge to Kelly during his time in Westwood. Thompson-Robinson, the No. 48 overall prospect in the 2018 class, has been UCLA’s starting QB for the past five seasons. His final game in a UCLA uniform will be vs. Pitt in the Sun Bowl on Dec. 30.

Now it looks like Moore, who is expected to enroll at UCLA in January, will step into Thompson-Robinson’s shoes out in Los Angeles.

Why did Dante Moore flip to UCLA?

Moore’s commitment to Oregon changed when Kenny Dillingham left the Ducks to become the head coach at Arizona State.

Dillingham was the offensive coordinator at Oregon this season and had a relationship with Moore dating back to his time as the OC at Florida State.

If Dillingham never left Oregon, it would be highly unlikely that Moore would have even taken the visit to Westwood. The two had a phenomenal connection dating back to Dillingham's time at Florida State and it was a big reason why the five-star QB picked Oregon over Miami, Michigan, Texas A&M, LSU and others over the summer.

Notre Dame was considered the early leader but when the Irish surprisingly took a commitment from 2024 four-star CJ Carr, Moore decided to look elsewhere in the summer. UCLA already has a quarterback commitment from four-star Northern California prospect Luke Duncan in the class but a second one has not been off the table.

In an interview with ESPN, Moore said that Bo Nix's decision to remain at Oregon for another season did not factor into his choice. However, UCLA's upcoming move from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten did play a role, he said.

Both UCLA and USC will move over to the Big Ten in 2024. That will give Moore, a Michigan native, the chance to play in games closer to home.

Moore, once he officially signs later this week, will become the second recent quarterback addition for UCLA. The program also added a commitment from Kent State transfer Collin Schlee over the weekend.