I'm a big Tommy supporter, and it's great that we're going to have a top tier 24 QB locked up, but I'm not sure how this is being spun into a positive when it essentially means that Tommy failed again for the class of 23. Turns out 23 was like 22 in that Tommy bet on the wrong horse to end up at ND, and now we're going to settle and wait on "the guy" to arrive after another year. I remember when it looked like we lead for Vizz and told him "thanks, but no thanks" because we wanted to go all in on Moore. Turns out that was a miscalculation.
Obviously if Carr reclassifies that changes everything. But even if you're of the opinion now that Moore is a headcase and that it would never work with him, then Tommy misread the situation and bet the 23 class on a headcase instead of keeping things open and pushing for other top tier QBs.
This is where I'm at. Tommy gets all the credit for Carr, but Moore still happened.
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Maybe I'm being too soft considering his past issues recruiting the QB position (slow to offer, slow to identify a top guy, overly-reliant on single-camp showings, etc.), but all evidence from every direction points to Rees *knowing* he had his guy with a certainty. '23 isn't over yet, and despite what Loy says, we don't know how Rees and co. handle Moore moving forward until we see other offers go out, or until Moore reveals some info of his own.
And even if they have to move on from Moore, and decided to recruit over him by grabbing a '24 QB and then back-tracking for a depth guy in '23, I have a hard time putting the failure on Rees if he was operating with an understanding from the Moore's that Dante was all-in. It's one thing to misread a situation after telling a guy to take his visits and then make his public commitment... it's another to be strung along, and finally cutting ties when you're certain that is what's happening. And it appears we have reached that point with Dante (maybe?).
Based on how the entire beat, the other teams' coaching staffs, and even off-the-record insiders have been treating news on Moore, it's almost a 100% certainty that he gave his pledge behind the scenes. And as
@IrishLax said, Moore keeps showing up at places that are giving last-ditch efforts via big NIL offers, and everyone is freaking out, but he keeps saying "no thanks" as if it's all moot. How else could you read that if you're Tommy?
And last: Dante has never hidden the fact that he wants to commit before his senior season. Just because the beat expected it to be earlier based on the behind-the-scenes juice, doesn't change the fact that Dante has never said "I'm committing early and not taking any visits." He still has ~2 months before his senior season starts. He's doing exactly what he said he would do. The consternation comes from the fact that he's talking about
potentially moving the goal posts, after giving everyone the vibes that it was over, and we were just waiting for some formality.
Tommy's only fault is not pressing for CV at the same time, and making those guys race to the spot. But even then, I have a hard time holding too much against him, because he probably had Moore rated more highly (and maybe not to an insignificant degree), and then also learned that Moore was locked up.
TL;DR -
You can't write off your silent QB commit as a head case until he gives you enough evidence, and we haven't even reached that point with Moore yet based on his own official timeline. I don't fault Tommy for playing it as he has thus far.
