The Oregon Ducks almost had a perfect season in 2024. Undefeated in the regular season. Big 10 Champions. Playoffs? That’s where the story ended when Dan Lanning’s team met the Buckeyes. However, for the head coach, the foundation has been built. You can only add to it. At the same time, the improvements/progress won’t happen just like that. It’ll take work, and some of the work starts with finding the right guy under the center. That need arises because their 2024 QB1, Dillon Gabriel, has moved to the pros. With no clear QB1 in sight right now, we have the favorite storyline of the post-season: the QB battle.

Currently, the 2024 transfer from UCLA, Dante Moore, is leading the race to be the next QB1 for the Ducks. It’s either him or Austin Novosad. At UCLA, Moore impressed in his freshman year, mounting over 1600 yards. However, just like any freshman QB, he struggled with interceptions and sacks. Moore didn’t get a lot of snaps in 2024 as the backup QB to Gabriel. Ahead of the 2025 season, the task for Moore is to earn his head coach’s trust.

Dan Lanning is the ultimate motivator. He knows how to get to his players and make them perform at their best. During the season, that comes in the form of his pre-game speeches. However, in the post-season, Lanning found another way to motivate his future stars. In the case of his QBs, Lanning took a different approach.

In the GoDucks show, on April 20th, the host asks Lanning a question regarding freshman Kingston Lopa. “Kingston’s going to be an unbelievable player for us, you know he’s had a really good spring so far, but you know he earned those moments by what he did in practice,” Lanning replied. Kingston played 6 games last season, where he played a combined 57 snaps—24 in defense and 33 on special teams.

Hyping up an up-and-coming player can help in multiple ways. Firstly, the player feels seen. Secondly, when Lanning says that players can earn their moments by what they do in practice, there is a greater motivation to go out there and practice until you’re drained.

In a recent interview, Coach Lanning was also asked about Dante Moore. “You’ve coached a lot of quarterbacks in your day. What is it about him that’s maybe unique or different from some of the others?” To that, Lanning replied, “I think, um, well, Dante has all the ability in the world, has the arm talent. I’ve been pleased with like, just his intelligence to get us checked into a positive play.”

However, the QB1 responsibility won’t be given to Moore until Lanning sees him get more reps in practice. Coach Dan Lanning is busy pushing Dante Moore until his last sweat with an ultimatum. Lanning injects urgency and humility into Moore’s game with just four words.

Dan Lanning’s ultimatum for his future QBs

It’s very important to love something if you want to excel in it. Dan Lanning is using that very mantra to suck out the best performance from his quarterback, Dante Moore. Lanning’s method is as blunt as a linebacker blitzing third-and-long. It’s not so much a polite suggestion for Moore, but the Ducks’ new creed, preached in all seriousness by a coach who won 13 games and now demands the next quarterback to handle the pigskin like a treasured family heir.

On the Bussin’ With The Boys show, Lanning says, “Ultimately, to be a success, you better love Football, right?” sounds more like a threat than advice. Whatever it is, Moore needs to buckle up and show his commitment towards the game and towards his coach. After all, Moore isn’t entering just any offense; he’s taking the reins of a Ducks machine that just thundered to a 13-1 mark and a Big Ten championship.

Of course, as always in Lanning’s fashion, the line served also as a challenge and a threat. Oregon’s quarterback merry-go-round has rotated at a dizzying pace, and the transfer portal is but a click away at all times. “You better love football” is not merely counsel—it’s a challenge, a gauntlet flung at the feet of Moore.