Since Dan Lanning arrived in Eugene, he has been building something special. Oregon football was already a top-tier program in the country, but Lanning has shown no drop-off from former head coach Mario Cristobal, who left to join his alma mater at Miami. Part of the reason for Lanning's success with the Ducks is his adept use of the transfer portal.
Over the past two seasons, Lanning has brought in players like running back Bucky Irving, wide receiver Tez Johnson, and last year's Heisman candidate quarterback Bo Nix, just to name a few. The Ducks' head coach looks to have added yet another talented transfer portal class in 2024. By the end of the December through January window, Oregon football signed 11 incoming transfers with 14 outgoing, giving them the No. 3 portal ranking, according to 247sports.
For the 2024 Ducks, the portal was mostly about reloading and addressing areas that may have been weakened by players moving on to the NFL. One such area was the quarterback position, to help replace Nix, who revitalized his career at Oregon and made the Ducks one of the elite teams in the Pac-12 in 2023.
With Nix gone, Lanning and his staff quickly pursued former UCF and Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel. Once he entered the transfer portal, many suspected that Gabriel would land in Eugene, as the fit was too good to pass up given the scheme, need, and even NIL opportunities. The surprise came when Lanning also secured former UCLA quarterback Dante Moore to bolster his quarterback room.
Dante Moore transfers to Oregon football
It was widely expected that Lanning would look to the portal to replace Nix, and while Gabriel's entry into the portal was a bit surprising, his signing with Oregon was not. However, once he signed, many assumed that Dante Moore, who had also entered the portal, would look elsewhere, especially with the starting quarterback position seemingly filled by Gabriel. This was compounded by the presence of former four-star sophomore Austin Novosad on the roster as well.
Gabriel likely had enough options vying for his talents that he didn't need to choose Oregon. While it's unclear if another program, possibly even one in his home state of Michigan, would have been as elite as Oregon, someone would have signed him.
Moore's challenge is his limited resume, which isn't impressive, as he struggled in his first season at UCLA. He played in just nine games, completing only 53.5 percent of his passes and throwing 11 touchdowns to nine interceptions.
In hindsight, with recent developments at UCLA, including former head coach Chip Kelly departing for an offensive coordinator job at Ohio State, there may have been more to Moore's decision than initially known.
Nevertheless, Moore was ranked No. 4 nationally, the No. 3 quarterback in the country, and the No. 1 player in the state of Michigan. Perhaps his initial commitment and familiarity with Lanning and Oregon influenced his decision. Whatever the reason, this was a surprising and unexpected acquisition for Oregon football, one that could pay off handsomely in the future.
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