Former Oklahoma QB Dillon Gabriel Responds to Brent Venables’ Comments

The Sooners' head coach talked Tuesday to clear the air on why Gabriel left prior to the Alamo Bowl, and Gabriel responded.

Oregon Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel (8) looks for an opening during the second half of the annual rivalry game against the Oregon State Beavers on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024 at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Ore. / Abigail Dollins/Statesman Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Brent Venables was more than happy to shed a little light on the circumstances under which Dillon Gabriel left the Oklahoma program at the end of the 2023 season.

To which Gabriel himself was all too eager to add.

Unprompted, Venables finished off his weekly press conference on Tuesday morning by offering more details of Gabriel’s departure last year.

He said Gabriel came to him and told him he was opting out of the Alamo Bowl, but he figured it was because he wanted to forego his final year of college for the NFL.

But Gabriel received an unfavorable draft grade (seventh round or undrafted) from the NFL College Advisory Committee, and he had just watched offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby take the head coaching job at Mississippi State.

So Venables said Gabriel basically just told him he would transfer to another school. Within days, Gabriel was at Oregon.

“I did not know that at that time that he wasn't going to go to the NFL,” Venables said. “ … I was like, I didn't know I had to fight this fight, you know, I didn't realize that you were even considering coming back, and he says, Yeah, but I just really want to, you know, get closer to home.”

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Brent Venables Shares Details of Dillon Gabriel's Exit

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Gabriel was asked later in the day Tuesday for his response to the picture Venables painted.

“Honestly, it’s so far gone,” Gabriel told reporters Tuesday afternoon. “I Just know God’s got me right where I need to be. I’ve 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’ve played with. Like I said, 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. Like I said, I’m happy God put me right where I need to be and I think that’s all that needs to be said, honestly.”

Gabriel’s mother also said her son didn’t want to disrupt the path of Jackson Arnold, the Sooners’ 5-star freshman quarterback last year who took over the starting job in the Alamo Bowl and has been OU’s QB1 all season before he was benched last week against Tennessee.

It’s also been widely speculated that Gabriel’s NIL money at Oregon is far greater than what he earned last year at Oklahoma.

Ultimately, Gabriel, a sixth-year senior from Hawaii, has settled in at Oregon and is considered a Heisman contender for the No. 8-ranked Ducks. He has thrown for 914 yards so far this season with six touchdowns and zero interceptions as Oregon has started 3-0.

In his career, Gabriel is completing 64.9 percent of his passes for 15,059 yards -- he's closing in on passing OU's Landry Jones for No. 3 all-time in FBS football -- with 126 TDs and 26 interceptions. Gabriel also has 26 career rushing touchdowns.