Dante Moore Growing Closer and Closer with Michigan Staff
Michigan got its quarterback in 2021 in JJ McCarthy, is focusing on three players in 2022 and has stud in its own backyard in 2023 in Detroit Martin Luther King's Dante Moore.
The rising junior quarterback was just in Ann Arbor for Michigan's Detroit Day and his mere presence got a lot of attention because some made it seem like he spurned Ohio State in order to check out U-M. Moore wanted to make sure that people understood what really happened.
"I’m going to explain it all," he said with a laugh. "It was never officially happening with Ohio State on June 2. I told them that it was an option between June 2 and June 22. A lot of people are saying it like I cancelled Ohio State to go to Michigan but it wasn’t really like that. It was between going to Ohio State or if the Detroit Day was happening on that day. I got that invite late. I was thinking I was going to Ohio State but I never made it official.
"Then my dad and I talked about how it would be good if I went to the Detroit Day event. I told Ohio State that I’d be there in a couple weeks. It wasn’t really a cancellation. I just want people to understand so no one reads too much into it."
It doesn't really matter how the Michigan visit occurred. What matters is how it went, and per Moore himself, it went very well.
"It’s always been tight with Michigan," he said. "With Michigan getting Coach [Steve] Clink[scale] from Kentucky, that’s a big thing right there, to be honest. He always kept me really close with Kentucky so him being at Michigan is a big thing.
"At the Detroit Day I met Coach Matt Weiss for the first time and that was a great thing. Seeing him in person and talking was a great thing. We talked some ball, talked about my family. I talked to Coach Harbaugh and he pointed out some things I need to fix with my body and my throws. They always have good tips for me and I’m always going to practice what they say. It was a great visit day."
To that point, Weiss and Moore hadn't had any contact but the two certainly seemed to make up for lost time.
"The whole coaching staff is calling him a genius. He knows a lot about football," Moore explained. "When we first saw each other it clicked on automatically so that was a great feeling. I think it’s important when the quarterback coach and the quarterback get along. He was behind me the whole time with my family through the pictures, the weight room and everything. I like how he kept me under his wing and stuff.
"We didn’t really go over anything but he just told me about the spring game and what they’ve been doing. As a quarterback, I started imagining it in my brain what he was saying and he sounded really smart. Having a smart quarterback coach is a great thing. Once you get to college guys like that can get you to the league."
Moore is currently in Los Angeles competing in the Elite 11 quarterback competition, but once he comes back he'll start hitting the road and taking visits again.
"I’m not sure if I’m going to any Michigan camps or other places yet but I probably will be at some," he said. "I’ll let people know when my visits and camps are official so I can avoid this Ohio State situation."
As a rising junior, Moore still does have a lot of time, but sometimes quarterbacks like to get the process over a little earlier in order to recruit others. Moore isn't sure what he'll do yet, but it's something he has thought about.
"I’ll never get sick of being recruited. I’m enjoying it everyday," he said. "I’m blessed from the man upstairs for even having this happen. With all these offers I’m very thankful to the coaches who have interest in me. All the schools that have offered me I feel the same way right now. I’m not going to put a school over another yet. It’s all the same energy.
"I have a long time to think about that. I’m not sure what I’m going to do. Like Donovan Edwards committed real, real, real late. Some people think that’s for attention but it’s not. It’s about thinking about it and making the right choice. I don’t know if I want to do it later or not. I’m just going to let it play out."
Moore feels like a Michigan lean but he does have a lot of options and is taking things slowly. It's going to be interesting to see how the next two years of his high school career play out as he gets close to making a decision.