Ad Disclosure
Dillon Gabriel declines to address specifics of transfer from Oklahoma
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Dillon Gabriel isn’t getting into any of the rumors or drama surrounding his departure from Oklahoma.
Gabriel was asked about his transfer from Oklahoma to Oregon, specifically Brent Venables’ take on the sequence of events, during a Tuesday media opportunity. He made it clear that he’s happy to be at Oregon and feels he made the right decision for his final season of eligibility.
“Honestly it’s so far gone I just know God’s got me right where I need to be,” Gabriel told reporters. “I got a smile on my face every day because I’m in Eugene, Oregon, around a bunch of great guys. Of course, those are guys that are my brothers for life and guys I played with. It’s people I still talk to on the team – players-wise. You focus on what you can control and that’s right where I’m at. I’m happy. I know God put me right where I need to be and I think that’s all that needs to be said.”
Gabriel last played for Oklahoma on Nov. 24, 2023 against TCU. He finished the 2023 campaign completing 69.3% of his passes for 3,660 yards, 30 touchdowns and just 6 interceptions. He also rushed for a career-high 12 scores.
Gabriel is in Year 6 of his college career thanks to the NCAA’s COVID-19 waiver for the 2020 season and the use of a redshirt in 2021. Outside of the redshirt year, in which he played in only 3 games, Gabriel has thrown for over 3,000 yards every season of his career.
With Gabriel gone, Oklahoma turned to Jackson Arnold as QB1 to begin the season. Arnold was pulled during the Week 4 loss to Tennessee and has been replaced as the Sooners’ starter for the Week 5 trip to Auburn.
With Oklahoma having QB issues, plenty of fans are pondering how things might be going if Gabriel had stayed for the 2024 season. Skip Bayless turned some heads with his recent comments.
“I’m told Dillon Gabriel wanted to stay at Oklahoma for his final year. I have no idea how much Oregon and Phil Knight offered him, but I’m told Oklahoma said no to Dillon Gabriel because they said yes to Jackson Arnold,” said Bayless.
Oklahoma coach Brent Venables decided to address the chatter in his Tuesday media opportunity with an unprompted remark:
“He wanted to have a meeting and let me know he wasn’t going to play in the bowl game,” Venables said of Gabriel. “I already had caught wind, and he knew some guys had opted out on the offensive line… Disappointed that he wasn’t going to go play in the bowl game, but with the circumstance of Coach (Jeff) Lebby leaving, and thought he wanted to get closer to home in Hawaii.
“Didn’t realize I needed to fight this fight. Didn’t realize he was considering coming back…. We hugged, shook hands. It was all good and positive… There was probably some disappointment that he wasn’t highly thought of in the NFL. Had an amazing year and was a fantastic quarterback. Wasn’t nobody running anybody off or anything like that. Veterans are good.”
Lebby was Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the 2022-23 seasons. He had previously coached Gabriel at UCF in 2019, where he held the same positions on the Knights staff. In late 2023, Lebby was hired by Mississippi State as the next head coach of the Bulldogs.
Gabriel, meanwhile, is generating Heisman Trophy buzz at Oregon. In 3 games, Gabriel has completed 84% of his passes for 914 yards and 6 touchdowns, with no interceptions.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
