2023 QB Dante Moore Discusses Rees, Notre Dame Visit, WR Carnell Tate, More

Written by ISD correspondent Andrew Mentock

ISD caught up with 2023 Martin Luther King (Mich.) quarterback Dante Moore‍ the day before the 2021 Detroit Public School League championship game. 

That afternoon, Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees stopped by during the school day to check on the young signal-caller and to show how much of a priority he is. Both Irish coaches have made a strong impression on Moore throughout his recruitment, but he beamed when discussing his relationship with Rees.

"Coach Rees, he's really young," Moore said. "We both are mature, but overall, we love joking around, telling each other's jokes. But when it comes to talking about football, he's real smart, of course, a great offensive coordinator, a caller of plays. Overall, we love talking to each other, texting each other, calling each other, you know just doing meetings and everything."

Thursday's school visit represented the second time in less than two weeks Kelly, Rees and Moore were in the general vicinity of each other.

Moore took an unofficial visit to South Bend on Oct. 2 to see the Irish face off against Cincinnati in a top-10 matchup. He just missed out on the player walk but enjoyed his overall experience on campus that afternoon. 

"I saw a little bit of the warm-up. I got there a little late because I had drivers training to get my license, so when I got there, it was great," Moore said. "A lot of recruits were there, like Sonny Styles, Luke Montgomery, Carnell Tate, of course. It was great seeing them, people in my class, highly rated just like me. It's a blessing seeing them."

Given that Notre Dame has one of the smaller student bodies among the programs recruiting Moore, he wasn't sure what to expect from the Irish fanbase. 

But after the game, he exited the stadium pleasantly surprised. 

"The best thing I got from there was when they scored, there were push-ups from the crowd and they lifted the fans up, so like a big wave was going on. Overall, the atmosphere is great, with a lot of fans. The student section was crazy. I didn't know that many students would attend the game."

Due to COVID-19, Moore had to meet with the Fighting Irish staff outside the stadium, so he caught up with Rees and others under the watchful gaze of Touchdown Jesus. 

"I talked to Coach Rees, I talked to Coach Kelly," Moore said. "Everything was great. I loved it down there."

Most major college football programs in the Midwest and down south are heavily recruiting Moore. Michigan and Ohio State also had this past weekend off and staff members from both programs also stopped by King on Thursday or stood on the sidelines for Friday's city championship to see Moore in person.

Yet going forward, he didn't have any upcoming visits planned, with his focus on his high school football season. But he said he hopes to return to South Bend in the near future, along with a 2023 King teammate.

"I don't have plans yet," Moore said. "I'm trying to get me and my offensive tackle down there, Johnathan Slack, because he hasn't been down there yet, so we don't have anything planned yet, but it should be coming soon, though, for sure."

In addition to Slack's recruitment, Moore is closely following the decision-making process of top 2023 wide receiver Carnell Tate‍, who initially planned to commit earlier this month before adjusting his timeline. 

"When he put a date out, Oct. 8, we were texting each other. I'm like, 'dang man, you're committing real early.' After that, I don't know if it was because of family situations or people talking to him, but I'm actually glad that he changed his date because we've been talking about colleges and stuff together.

"That's the No. 1 wide receiver in the class I want to play college football with. So seeing wherever he goes, it's probably going to be a bigger boost to me. If I commit earlier than him, it will probably be a bigger boost to him. Wherever he goes, I'm always going to be proud of him, but like I said, he's my No. 1 target for sure in college football."

Ranking
ISD: 94 (four-star)
247: 95 (four-star)
Rivals: 5.9 (four-star)
ESPN: 87 (four-star)
Composite: 99.17 (five-star)