Former Josh Heupel-coached QB enters NCAA transfer portal
A quarterback that was coached by Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel for two seasons entered the NCAA transfer portal on Monday morning. Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who has one year of eligibility remaining, is entering the portal according to 247Sports' Matt Zenitz. Gabriel posted a thank you message to Oklahoma fans after the […]
A quarterback that was coached by Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel for two seasons entered the NCAA transfer portal on Monday morning.
Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who has one year of eligibility remaining, is entering the portal according to 247Sports' Matt Zenitz.
Gabriel posted a thank you message to Oklahoma fans after the news broke.
Gabriel played under Heupel at UCF in 2019 and 2020. He passed for 3,653 yards and 29 touchdowns as a true freshman in 2019. In 2020, Gabriel passed for 3,570 yards and 32 touchdowns in just 10 games (COVID season).
The Hawaii native transferred to Oklahoma after the 2021 season.
Gabriel was critical of Heupel's offense in 2021, suggesting that in a game against Georgia Tech that UCF kept running the same couple of plays over and over.
“It’s not as fast because of the fact it’s not as simple,” said Gabriel (via 247Sports). “We get to the line quickly but there’s a lot more in the process that goes into it rather than with Heup. We’d line it, call it and try to be as fast as possible. At times it was really rushed [in 2020] because of how fast we played, so you’re just kind of learning on the fly with every play. You’re kinda just running to grass. With Gus, I truly feel like we’re scheming things up, getting into looks you like, giving you answers and if he doesn’t like the look, he checks it, which is something I like.”
Oddly enough, when Gabriel left UCF after 2021, he landed in an offense at Oklahoma that was essentially the same offense that he played in at UCF under Heupel (Heupel's former offensive coordinator, Jeff Lebby, was Gabriel's offensive coordinator at Oklahoma).
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