Dante Moore understands deeply something Dan Lanning always says.
"I just know coach (Dan) Lanning always tells me that pressure is a privilege," Moore said. "I just feel like I'm blessed to be here and blessed to be where I'm at. I'm not really thinking about down the line this season. I'm thinking about every day, just getting better at practice and how I'm helping the team around to get better ... right now, I'm just living in the moment."
Moore's the favorite to become the Oregon starting quarterback, but he's not focused on that that. He leans heavily into focusing on improving every day, a lesson one of his mentors, Cam Newton taught him.
“I've had great mentors. And one thing Cam Newton always told me is control what you can control. And also, you know, you don't gotta do nothing special to be special."
Meaning that the key to improving is to focus on your work rather than the depth chart.
"The whole quarterback room has been competing really well," Moore said after the team's 7th practice of spring. "This spring, coach (Will) Stein has pushed us every day as a group. We're not worried about who is going to start, we're not worried about who's one or who's two."
The redshirt sophomore from Detroit, Michigan has confidence in his new receivers like Malik Benson, Dakorien Moore and Cooper Perry. He feels comfortable in the offense, faster after offseason workouts with strength and conditioning coach Wilson Love that cut down his body fat.
He's had a year to train behind Dillon Gabriel, and he spent part of that year studying film of NFL quarterbacks and the Oregon system.
"It's a great offense," Moore said. "It's Oregon. It's been great for many, many years. It's a great spot to be at. At the end of the day, if you're getting better 1% every single day, that's all you need to do."
It sounds like it's Moore's turn to run it, although veterans like Gary Bryant praise Austin Novosad's throwing ability, particularly on the deep ball. “I’ve been getting a lot of reps with him," Bryant said. "He’s a deep ball thrower. Every deep ball is right there on the money."
Pressure is indeed a privilege, because it refines and purifies. Chip Kelly used to say is that pressure is what you feel when you don't know what you're doing. After a full offseason of pushing each other and competing against each other, the Oregon quarterbacks will be ready for the Big Ten.
It'll just feel like another day of practice. They've already competed against the best.
The guy who wins the job (and it's highly likely to be Moore) will be more than ready. And having Makhi Hughes to hand off to and Poncho Laloulu to direct the line, Dakorien Moore, Bryant and Evan Stewart to throw to, creates a lot of trust.
When you trust each other, it disperses the perception of pressure. That's what happens when everyone understands the standard. Moore definitely does.
In his redshirt season the 6-3, 210-pound former five-star completed 8 of 9 passes for 49 yards.
"I think I did a really good job last year, even though I never thought of myself as a backup coming in the spring. I always wanted to push to see if I could push Dillon to better himself and he could push me to better myself. I came in, I wasn't a mouse. I came in talking like I was going to be the starting quarterback. We pushed each other in the weight room and the facility every day."
This year it's the same thing, only now he's pushing from the front.