Connon: Dante Moore Committing to UCLA Signifies Major Shift

Coming off of back-to-back winning seasons and one of the biggest recruiting pickups in program history, things might finally be looking up for the Bruins.

When Dante Moore committed to the Bruins on Monday, a lot more changed than the 2023 team recruiting rankings.

Yes, UCLA football picked up its biggest prospect in years when it flipped the five-star quarterback from Oregon, and his on-the-field impact will surely be felt whenever he does actually see the field. Beyond that, though, the Bruins finally feel like they're trending in the right direction.

Through 2020, coach Chip Kelly was 10-21 without a bowl appearance through three years in Westwood. UCLA was coming off back-to-back lackluster recruiting classes, with very few immediate contributors coming out of either of them.

The 2021 season was certainly a step in the right direction, featuring big wins over LSU and USC, but the Bruins only finished with eight wins and they weren't even able to play in the Holiday Bowl due to a COVID-19 outbreak. Things went well to open 2022, including a 6-0 start to the campaign and a constant presence in both the AP Poll and College Football Playoff Rankings, only for them to come crashing down thanks to late-season home losses to Arizona and USC.

For every step forward UCLA took, they took another one back. All of a sudden, mainstays Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Zach Charbonnet, Atonio Mafi, Jake Bobo, Bo Calvert and Stephan Blaylock were all on their way out, and trying to predict their replacements was quite the tall task.

As recently as September, the Bruins' 2023 recruiting class ranked No. 85 in the country and No. 11 in the Pac-12, according to the 247Sports Composite. By all accounts, it was among the worst classes in the Power Five.

UCLA was starting to build a reputation as a program stuck in the past, refusing to buy into the modern NIL landscape, led by a coach who always seemed to be one or two losses away from the hot seat.

Many fans and media members had accepted that 2023 would be a rebuilding year – to put it kindly – given the sheer amount outgoing talent and lack of known commodities coming in to replace them, and that their landing in the Big Ten come 2024 would be bumpy at best.

It's crazy how big of an impact one 18-year-old can have on the state of a program.

Now, the 17-7 record the Bruins have posted over the past two years isn't a disappointing plateau, but a step towards longterm success. Departing veterans aren't looked at as gaping holes on the roster, but instead opportunities for new young players to come in and thrive in Kelly's system.

It's all a bit hyperbolic, but that's just how the college football machine works in the offseason. Fans can't be blamed for feeling great about UCLA moving forward – after all, Moore is the highest-rated offensive player to commit to the Bruins in the internet-era, and he's Sports Illustrated's No. 1 overall recruit in the country.

The current regime had long patted itself on the back for turning three-star recruits into solid college players and late-round NFL Draft picks. It was always an admirable goal, but one that could potentially fall apart without Thompson-Robinson, Charbonnet and others at the center of the offense.

Kelly actually targeted a real blue-chip quarterback in Moore, showing that he recognizes the importance of game-changing star players in his system. And for the first time in his five years in Westwood, Kelly got a five-star recruit.

Kelly went out and beat a conference rival in a heated recruiting battle, a battle that required serious buy-in from the staff and a level of acceptance of the new world order.

Kelly picked up a commitment from one of the best players in Detroit high school football history, perhaps only second to Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Jerome Bettis, from over 2,000 miles away, no less.

Kelly got the Bruins their star quarterback for the next three-to-four years, and one who can carry them into the Big Ten with their heads held high.

Maybe Moore is a Heisman Trophy contender from day one, or maybe loses the starting job to Kent State transfer Collin Schlee in fall camp. Maybe UCLA continues the trend of improving its winning percentage every year under Kelly, reaching 10 regular season victories for the first time since 1998, or maybe it falls flat on its face and fails to make a bowl thanks to yet another abysmal campaign on defense.

The 2023 season is too far out to know for sure where the Bruins will end up, and there are obviously way too many moving pieces to know where things will stand come 2024, but there is absolutely reason for optimism at the moment.

As of Wednesday, UCLA is officially Big Ten-bound. The athletic department will soon be back in the black thanks to media deals and apparel settlements. A top Pac-12 linebacker and one of the best interior offensive linemen in the Big Ten have already committed to the Bruins as transfers. The 2023 recruiting class has jumped 50 spots in less than three months, and there could be more prospects who follow Moore's lead ahead of the early signing period opening Wednesday.

It's OK to drink the Kool-Aid, everybody. Hope is admittedly a dangerous thing for UCLA fans, given the 25 years of disappointment that have plagued the program, but enjoy it while you have it.

Dante Moore is worth the hype, and hitching your wagon to a generational talent at quarterback has hardly ever been a bad thing.

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