DSC Inside Read: Dante Moore at the Crossroads of Timing and Tradition

 

THE ACADEMIC CALENDAR IS THE ISSUE

Much of the current frustration surrounding the transfer portal—particularly its visibility during the College Football Playoff—misses the root of the problem. The portal is not misaligned with college football because of negligence or shortsightedness. It is misaligned because college football does not actually control its own calendar.

The sport operates inside a larger, immovable framework: the academic calendar.

That distinction matters. While the playoff now stretches deeper into January and occupies more national attention than ever before, the vast majority of universities still function on traditional academic timelines. According to recent data, 128 of the 134 Football Bowl Subdivision programs operate on a semester system. For most of those schools, the spring term begins in early-to-mid January, with classes starting either the first or second full week of the month.

Viewed through that lens, the transfer portal window—January 2 through January 16, plus a brief post-season window following a team’s final game—actually makes sense. It aligns with enrollment deadlines, financial aid processing, housing logistics, and the practical realities of student-athletes needing to be enrolled and on campus for spring semester workouts. From an academic standpoint, the portal is functioning exactly as designed.

The friction arises because the football calendar has crept later and later without a corresponding adjustment elsewhere. Coaches are now preparing for quarterfinals, semifinals, and national championship games while simultaneously watching roster decisions unfold in real time. That tension feels chaotic—but it is a byproduct of structural overlap, not portal dysfunction.

In reality, there is only one true solution if the sport wants full alignment: move the season forward.

A calendar where the national championship is played on January 1 each year would largely eliminate this conflict. Even with the current expanded playoff and built-in bye weeks, such a structure is feasible. A season beginning in late August—August 23, for example—could accommodate conference championship games by November 29, a first-round playoff on December 6, quarterfinals on December 13, semifinals on December 20, and a national championship on New Year’s Day.

On paper, the fix is straightforward.

In practice, it is anything but.

Such a shift would fundamentally disrupt the sport’s most deeply entrenched traditions. New Year’s Day has long been the ceremonial heart of college football, anchored by iconic bowl games like the Rose, Sugar, Orange, and Fiesta. Those games are not just sentimental artifacts; they are billion-dollar institutions tied to television contracts, host cities, sponsors, and decades of cultural identity. Compressing or marginalizing them would require stakeholders to surrender power, prestige, and revenue—an unlikely outcome in the near term.

At best, this model would likely relegate traditional bowls to semifinal sites, while early playoff rounds move on campus. That might solve the academic-football alignment issue, but it would also permanently alter what many fans view as the soul of the sport.

There is also an added wrinkle for schools on the quarter system, such as Oregon. Quarter-system universities already play a significant portion of their season before classes begin. This past fall, Oregon’s first day of instruction was September 29—by that point, the Ducks had already played five games. Advancing the season by another week would mean playing half of a 12-game regular season before students officially set foot in classrooms. That may be logistically workable, but it underscores how unevenly calendar changes affect different institutions.

All of this leads to an uncomfortable but necessary conclusion: the transfer portal is not broken. The calendar is.

And more specifically, the calendar is constrained by academic realities and protected by an unwieldy dedication to bowl history and financial legacy. Until those forces are meaningfully addressed, the sport will continue to experience moments where competitive priorities and academic structures collide—most visibly in January, when football’s biggest stage overlaps with the start of spring semester.

That tension isn’t going away anytime soon. There is simply too much money, tradition, and institutional inertia standing in the way.

THE DANTE MOORE QUESTION

One of the most closely watched storylines hovering over Oregon’s postseason run is the future of quarterback Dante Moore. As of now, there is no final decision. And that uncertainty is real—not performative, not leverage-driven, and not tied to any recent roster movement elsewhere in the quarterback room.

Importantly, the recent announcement that reserve quarterback Austin Novosad intends to enter the transfer portal is unrelated to Moore’s decision. Sources have been consistent on that point. Novosad’s move reflects his own search for opportunity and clarity, not a domino falling in anticipation of Moore’s choice.

What is clear is that Moore is receiving two very different, but equally rational, streams of advice.

On one side is the professional lens. Moore is being reminded that the NFL Draft—particularly at the top—is as much about timing and economics as it is about readiness. A top-five selection carries life-altering guaranteed money and a signing bonus that is difficult to walk away from under any circumstances. Even for quarterbacks who might benefit from another year of college football, the security of that financial floor can be persuasive. That reality isn’t unique to Moore, but it weighs heavier when draft projections place a player squarely in that elite tier.

On the other side is a more situational warning. One voice close to Moore’s camp has cautioned against rushing toward an NFL landing spot defined less by fit and stability and more by prolonged dysfunction. The idea that a franchise that has struggled for nearly two decades—and may be openly positioning itself for the No. 1 overall pick—represents an ideal developmental environment is far from universally accepted. Quarterback history is littered with examples of talent meeting circumstance at the wrong time.

That tension—between financial certainty and football trajectory—is at the heart of Moore’s deliberation.

Inside the athletic department, opinions vary. One source believes Moore ultimately announces a return, citing his growth trajectory, command of the offense, and the opportunity to solidify himself not just as a draftable quarterback, but as a finished one. Others are more cautious, emphasizing that no decision has been made and that Moore is still actively weighing all factors.

What matters most is that this process is unfolding deliberately. There has been no rushed timeline, no public signaling, and no effort to blur unrelated roster moves into a larger narrative. Whether Moore returns or declares, the decision will come from a place of long-term vision rather than short-term pressure.

For now, the only honest answer is this: Dante Moore is still deciding—and that, in itself, says more about the complexity of the moment than any premature conclusion could.

ODDS AND ENDS

-          I will have a full preview and prediction for the Orange Bowl on Wednesday

-          I don’t expect much in the way of news for incoming transfers until after Saturday. As an example, a lot of the other dominoes – like Sam Leavitt – are awaiting the decision by others like Dante Moore.

-          I know that there are some depth concerns about those Oregon players who have already made it known that the intend to enter the transfer portal, but the decisions were made in conjunction with the coaching staff and the staff did not feel that these would impact a condensed post-season depth chart.

-          I don’t know that we see a ton of movement on any remaining 2026 players for Oregon. The Ducks are starting to get more detailed on their 2027 class and I will have more thoughts on those recruits as we move forward.

-          I will be covering the Polynesian Bowl again, but the content will be premium in some form or another. I have not come to any financial agreement on how that will look, but I will let you know within a week.