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Reports: Former Oklahoma QB Named Starter at Louisiana-Monroe

Former junior college transfer General Booty, who served as a reserve behind Dillon Gabriel in Brent Venables' first two seasons, reportedly won the Warhawks job.

John E. Hoover

Former Oklahoma QB General Booty
Former Oklahoma QB General Booty / Nathan J. Fish-USA TODAY Sports
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Oklahoma quarterbacks are taking over rosters all across America.

Former Sooners backup General Booty is the latest to make the news, apparently having won the starting QB job at his new school, Louisiana-Monroe, per a tweet Wednesday night from Matt Zenitz of 247Sports. 

Booty was an OU reserve for Brent Venables’ first two seasons as he served as one of Dillon Gabriel’s backups. Booty entered the transfer portal in May after participating in the Sooners’ annual spring game, and he landed at ULM.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Booty appeared in one game each of the past two seasons after transferring in from Tyler Junior College. In his freshman season at Tyler, Booty led the NJCAA with 3,410 passing yards at a 61 percent clip with 27 touchdowns, leading Tyler to a 7-5 record and Heart of Texas Bowl win.

Booty played high school football in Allen, TX, but his famous football family — wide receiver Abram Booty, quarterback Josh Booty, and quarterback John David Booty — hail from Shreveport. General Booty’s dad, Abram, played wide receiver at LSU, while uncle Josh played quarterback for the Tigers. John David went on to play at USC.

Booty put his interesting name to good use with a nice NIL package endorsing underwear, and also donate 20 percent of his NIL revenue to the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital.

Booty previously explained in a statement why it was a priority for him.

“My family has been a really good example to me my whole life, and we talked about the importance of giving back,” Booty said. “I have a special place in my heart for kids, so after my visit there, I knew Oklahoma Children’s Hospital would be where my support would go.”

Booty’s website is where fans can purchase shirts, hats and other items featuring his brand “MTJN,” which stands for More Than Just a Name.

“Ever since I was a young kid playing quarterback, my name has grabbed a lot of attention,” Booty says on the website. “I’ve always tried my best on the field and off to give people a reason to remember my name. Based on the recent court's ruling allowing Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals, I wanted to use my name to support a great cause. Saying that, I am proud to announce my partnership with Oklahoma Children’s Hospital OU Health.”

Booty, a walk-on at OU, was essentially third string behind Gabriel and Davis Beville in 2022 and worked alongside Beville behind Jackson Arnold in 2023.

He was in the portal for about two weeks before landing at ULM.

“Excited to go to work with my new teammates at The University of Louisiana Monroe,” Booty posted on Twitter. “I’m coming home!”

Booty ran a 32-yard touchdown to help the Sooners' offense defeat the defense in the annual Red/White Spring Game in his final appearance in a Sooners jersey on April 20.

As an unrated recruit at Allen (TX) High School, Booty passed for 2,235 yards and 26 touchdowns and rushed for 401 yards and nine scores his senior year.

The OU quarterback room has been completely remade since Venables took over following Lincoln Riley’s departure in December 2021. Spencer Rattler (South Carolina) and Caleb Williams (USC) transferred, and walk-ons Micah Bowens, Ralph Rucker and Ben Harris all resumed their college football careers elsewhere. Venables’ first QB commit, Nick Evers, transferred to Wisconsin and now plays at Connecticut. This offseason, Beville, who joined the team after Venables’ first spring in 2022, transferred to South Carolina — it was announced earlier Wednesday that he had earned a scholarship — and Booty went to ULM as Arnold has taken the reins in Norman.

Arnold’s backups at OU are now freshman Michael Hawkins, sixth-year senior Casey Thompson and freshman Brendan Zurbrugg, as well as preferred walk-on Steele Wasel.

Gabriel, meanwhile, is considered a Heisman front-runner at No. 3-ranked Oregon.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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