Oklahoma OC Jeff Lebby And QB Dillon Gabriel's Relationship Will Be Key in 2022

Lebby and Gabriel reunite at Oklahoma after they were together at UCF for the 2019 season.

Starting something from scratch is a difficult thing to do.

Once people get into a routine of doing something a certain way at a certain location, it can be a harsh adjustment to carry that into a new workplace.

That is the challenge ahead for new Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, who returned to Norman to coach under Brent Venables after playing and coaching for the Sooners in the early to mid-2000s.

“Fifteen years have gone by since I spent my last fall in Norman, so, humbling for me to be back in this position, being the offensive coordinator, sitting in a great chair that's got a ton of history and a ton of tradition, and look forward to fighting for every inch every single day to continue to build this thing the right way,” Lebby said. “Fired up about getting the opportunity to work for Coach Venables. His passion, his vision, his consistency is something you can feel every single day. We've got a great thing going. It's gonna be a lot of fun.”

While the challenge for Lebby is obvious in taking over a program that has become known nationally for its jaw-dropping offense in the previous regime under Lincoln Riley, something that makes things a whole lot easier is who will be behind center.

Just hours after Caleb Williams announced he was entering the transfer portal, Oklahoma landed the commitment of UCF transfer Dillon Gabriel.

Gabriel took a leap of faith in committing to OU, simply stating in his announcement on Twitter: “They say life’s a gamble like rolling the dice…DIMETIME.”

They say life’s a gamble like rolling the dice… DIMETIME pic.twitter.com/8xGNDWjaR3

— Dillon Gabriel (@_dillongabriel_) January 4, 2022

There is almost no chance the Sooners would have been able to pry Gabriel away from his transfer commitment to UCLA on such short notice had it not been for the previous relationship between the Hawaii native and Lebby.

Lebby recruited and coached Gabriel at UCF, and the interest in the two to reunite was strong from the beginning.

“Obviously, we've got a ton of history,” Lebby said. “It goes all the way back to me recruiting him out of Mililani High School, going to Hawaii, being there for home visits, him having an official visit at UCF while I was there with Heup (Josh Heupel). We've got a ton of history.”

“Obviously, constant conversations,” Lebby said of the days leading up to Caleb Williams’ decision to enter the transfer portal. “Then, incredibly appreciative to Dillon, his mom and dad, for the trust and the faith they had in me and then obviously Coach Venables. Then doing this, and how fast it happened. Obviously, excited about him being here and doing it.”

While Gabriel isn’t the surefire NFL quarterback and highly-touted 5-star prospect that Williams is — he was just a 3-star recruit in the class of 2019 — Gabriel brings something that can't be overvalued: experience.

In 26 career games at UCF, the left-hander completed over 60 percent of his passes for more than 8,000 yards and 70 touchdowns.

Dillon Gabriel :: Reinhold Matay / USA TODAY Sports

That experience, along with the previous relationship, made landing Gabriel a slam dunk move for Lebby.

“I think the great thing about him walking in the door right now, there's a couple of things, but one is the production,” Lebby said. “The guy's averaging over 300 yards a game, three touchdowns a game in 26 starts. You can't argue that piece of it. I think probably the thing that I'm most excited about is this guy knows how to operate. 

“He knows how to walk in the building every single day, have great ownership of how he's gonna operate, how he's gonna take command of the offense and what it means to be a quarterback. To me, that is huge and that is critical as we set the tone and the standard of how we're gonna do things with Coach Venables, myself, the things that we're gonna do offensively. Having that guy that can roll with it immediately and knows what to expect I think is huge.”

All things considered, after losing two 5-star quarterbacks in the transfer portal in the same offseason, Oklahoma looks to have found themselves in an advantageous position.

Gabriel isn’t flashy, he isn’t a 5-star, he’s almost certainly not going to get selected No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft.

But he is Jeff Lebby’s guy, and that creates one huge jumpstart on his first season in Norman.

In the past, under Riley, quarterback competitions would get taken right up to the first week of the season — no matter how obvious they may have seemed.

That won’t be the case with Gabriel and the Sooners. He is their guy for 2022 and potentially beyond.

And that is just fine with Lebby.

“Dillon's our guy right now,” Lebby said. “As we move forward, again, we got one guy on our roster that's thrown a college football pass. Obviously, he’s thrown a bunch of ‘em, he’s thrown ‘em really really well. We're going to move forward that way and go get ready.”