It was like any other Saturday in the fall for Dante Moore.
The Detroit Martin Luther King class of 2023 four-star quarterback was watching No. 2 Clemson take on No. 4 Notre Dame last November with his trainer and former Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner.
The TV broadcast showed a shot of the Notre Dame coaching box. Gardner immediately recognized an old foe.
“Is that Tommy Rees?”
Notre Dame fans, of course, knew the answer to Gardner’s question. Yes, it was the former Irish quarterback turned Notre Dame offensive coordinator indeed. Gardner and Rees’ Wolverines and Irish matched up against each other four times from 2010-13.
Moore, meanwhile, didn’t know much about Rees at the time. That’s different now. Notre Dame offered him a scholarship on March 17, making Moore the first quarterback offer for Notre Dame in the 2023 cycle, along with New Orleans Isidore Newman School's Arch Manning.
“It means a lot,” Moore said. “Showing the interest and putting the trust in me to be the first quarterback offer in the class says a lot. I really love that. I’m just thankful for them to offer me.”
Moore, the No. 30 overall recruit in his class according to Rivals, has offers from 23 other schools including Auburn, Florida State, LSU, Michigan, Oregon and Tennessee. He said he doesn’t view any of the two dozen programs that have offered him as higher in a hierarchy than the others. It’s early in the rising junior’s recruitment, after all.
Moore has been talking to the Notre Dame coaching staff every other week, though. He and his high school coach hop on periodic calls with Rees. Moore said it has been eye-opening to connect and learn from someone who threw for 7,341 yards and 61 touchdowns in college.
“He’s a cool guy, always smiling,” Moore said of Rees. “He’s very smart and has a lot of things to talk about. He’s a great person overall.
“They’ve been showing a lot of love. Talking to them has been great. We’ve been having a lot of long conversations and talking a little ball.”
Notre Dame is going to have to compete with Moore’s home-state team and his trainer's alma mater to land the highly coveted prospect. Michigan was the first to offer him in June 2018 — right after Moore finished seventh grade.
Moore attended a camp at Michigan earlier this month. He told The Wolverine that he had a great visit and that he feels the future is bright in Ann Arbor.
The same can be said for Notre Dame though, too. The Irish are coming off their second College Football Playoff appearance in three seasons. Receiving commitments from and signing players like Moore will only increase the chances of getting back there again.
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