'Dillon's our guy': OU offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby wastes no time elevating Dillon Gabriel to QB1
Dillon Gabriel is Oklahoma's guy.
Offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby made that abundantly clear on Wednesday when asked which quarterback sits atop the Sooners' depth chart.
A UCF transfer, Gabriel joins OU with 8,037 passing yards and 79 touchdowns in three seasons under his belt. He's the top option in a quarterback room that consists of walk-on redshirt freshman Ralph Rucker and incoming freshman Nick Evers.
"Dillon's our guy right now," Lebby said. "We've got one guy on our roster that's thrown a college football pass. Obviously, he's thrown a bunch of them. He's thrown them really, really well. We're going to move forward that way and go get ready."
Gabriel's arrival in Norman comes at a transitional time for the Sooners, who saw their only two scholarship quarterbacks from last season enter the transfer portal.
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Spencer Rattler transferred to South Carolina on Dec. 13. He threw for 1,483 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions last season. Rattler was benched in favor of Caleb Williams during the comeback against Texas in early October.
Williams is also no longer in the equation. He followed former OU head coach Lincoln Riley to USC on Tuesday after throwing for 1,912 yards with 21 touchdowns and four interceptions as a freshman last season.
This paved the way for Gabriel, who is already embracing a leadership role since joining the Sooners on Jan. 3.
"With Dillon jumping into the family, if you will, it's been just wonderful from a leadership standpoint," OU head coach Brent Venables said. "He has really grabbed the bull by the horns in regard to connecting with the whole football team, not just the offensive side.
"He's done a wonderful job of doing what you would expect a guy at that position to do, which is lead and lead the right way. I've been really pleased with that."
Now that he's a Sooner, it's no surprise that Gabriel is Lebby's guy.
Lebby traveled to Hawaii in 2018 to recruit Gabriel out of high school during his time as UCF's quarterback coach. Lebby then served on the staff for Gabriel's freshman season with the Knights before leaving in 2020 to be Ole Miss' offensive coordinator.
"Obviously, we've got a ton of history," Lebby said of his relationship with Gabriel. "Having that guy that we can roll with it immediately and knows what to expect, I think, is huge. The transition's been really good."
Gabriel almost didn't end up in Norman.
Lebby and the Sooners got tipped off that Williams planned to enter the transfer portal about 48 hours before the news broke on Jan. 3. It's the same day Gabriel was scheduled to begin classes at UCLA, where he had originally announced his intention to transfer.
Had Gabriel attended a class at UCLA, he would've been ineligible to play football at any other university for a full calendar year. Despite only having 48 hours to recruit him, Lebby managed to get the former UCF quarterback to flip to OU.
"It was a wild 48 hours," Lebby said. "Obviously, constant conversations. I'm incredibly appreciative to Dillon, his mom and his dad for the trust and the faith they had in me and Coach Venables. I'm excited about him being here and doing it."
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Caleb Williams' departure
When Williams announced his intention to enter the transfer portal on Jan. 3, it set a number of events in motion. OU secured a commitment from Gabriel later that day, signaling that the team was prepared to move on without its star quarterback.
"Once you go into the portal, there’s a line that you cross," Venables said. "I have to assume not that you’re coming back. I've got to assume you’re not going to be here once you make that decision."
That assumption proved to be correct.
Williams ultimately committed to USC in a decision that didn't shock Venables. He said he had a feeling Williams wouldn't return to Norman in the days leading up to the announcement.
"I think after a few days we didn’t have the kind of communication that would be necessary that would allow us to continue to feel good about an opportunity moving forward," Venables said. "The communication wasn’t where it needed to be."
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Why Jaren Kanak flipped from Clemson to OU
When asked during his introductory press conference last December if he intended on bringing any Clemson players or committed recruits along with him to OU, Venables dismissed the notion.
"I have not continued to try to recruit guys," Venables said. "My relationship with Coach (Dabo) Swinney goes so much further than just the football field... I'm just trying to do things the right way."
Venables made an exception for Jaren Kanak, though.
After originally committing to Clemson last July, the four-star athlete from Hays, Kansas, announced his commitment to OU on Jan. 5. He's the only Clemson recruit/player who followed to Venables to Norman.
"I think Jaren's situation was very unique," Venables said. "It’s different when a guy has never been on campus and a guy is within arm’s reach and has been on campus three or four times. His first time on campus prior to his official visit, I was the only person he’d really had any contact with.
"Right, wrong or indifferent, I think he had a different level of comfort."
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Kanak's comfort level in Clemson changed for the worse when Venables accepted the head coaching gig at OU last December.
Kanak became unsure of his commitment to Clemson with Venables no longer in the picture, and he expressed that concern to Swinney.
"I tried to reassure (Kanak) that Clemson was a great place that he fell in love with," Venables said. "I told him I didn’t have a spot for him. I told him if he was going to de-commit, he needed to do things the right way."
The right way consisted of Kanak getting Swinney's blessing to look at other schools, including OU, according to Venables.
Swinney obliged.
Kanak didn't put pen to paper during December's early signing period, and after making a few visits to Norman, he committed to OU.
"Coach Swinney just wanted to make sure there wasn’t a lot of drama around the early signing day," Venables said. "(Kanak) agreed that he would sit that (period) out. He's a great fit for us."
Justin Martinez can be reached at jmartinez@oklahoman.com or @JTheSportsDude on Twitter. Make sure to subscribe to The Oklahoman to stay up to date with all local sports.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football: Brent Venables talks about Dillon Gabriel, Caleb Williams
