What did Anonymous SEC Coaches say about the Oklahoma Sooners? Why did Dillon Gabriel leave OU?

what did Anonymous SEC coaches have to say about the Oklahoma Sooners you are locked on Sooners your daily podcast on the Oklahoma Sooners part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day what's up sooner Nation welcome to lockon Sooners and thank you for making lockon Sooners your first listen every single day today's episode is brought brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more right now new customers get $150 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that's a150 bucks with any winning $5 bet visit fanduel.com lockon to get started my name is John Williams you can follow me on Twitter joh n Williams the show is at locked on Sooners make sure you subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcast we're free and available on all podcast platforms and on YouTube hit the Subscribe button over there that like button hit that notification Bell also to let you know when new episodes drop Athlon Sports every year part of their magazine also release it on the digital sign they get together with coaches from across the country to speak on anonymously other coaches within their conference now with the Oklahoma centers going into the SEC we get to hear what some of these coaches have to say about Oklahoma about Brent venables and where they're headed so we're going to discuss all of that what they had to say about the Oklahoma sters and Brent venes we're also going to dig into the Athletics article on Dylan Gabriel later in the show highlighting a little bit more about why he chose to stay in college and leave uh the Oklahoma Sooners for the Oregon Ducks we'll do that later in the show but first let's talk about the SEC coaches speaking anonymously about Oklahoma here's what one had to say they're starting to round out on defense to a unit you'd expect Bren venables to be coaching at Clemson that's the good news entering the SEC the bad news is that they could be bad on the o line if they can't pull some guys together late in the portal let's start with that last note right there if they can't pull some guys late in the portal I feel like they've done everything they need to do in the portal along the offensive line now it's just about figuring it out and making it mesh you've added garyan Hatchet you've added Fai weu you've added Branson Hickman you've added Spencer Brown Michael Tarkin I mean basically added a whole offensive line through the transfer portal now it's about figuring out which guys are going to emerge and take starting jobs you still have a lot of Blue Chip Talent along this offensive line that you're developing Jacob ston Jake Taylor you know Heath oida was a fourstar on certain uh recruiting Services Josh Bates similarly was also a fourstar you've got the true freshman they're coming in as well Eugene Brooks Eddie Pierre Louie Josh is so Daniel aenami like there's a lot of talent at offensive line right now you just don't know how it's all going to come together during spring ball there were a number of guys that had impressive practices impressive Springs by the time we got to the spring game the starting offensive line was Michael Tarkin at left tackle Jacob ston at left guard we don't know if that's going to be Where It ultimately sticks because we've heard really really great things about Jacob St Jacob ston playing Left tackle many believe that he could be Oklahoma's next offensive tackle taken in the first round of the NFL draft down the road so you had Tarkin sexon and then at Center was Joshua bra Bates obviously you bring in Branson Hickman who's got 2400 snaps to his name from his time at SMU again in a good SMU offense then you're looking at Right Guard fi weu who might have been the star of Camp along the offensive line I think everybody came away impressed uh when they got a chance to see him up close and personal looked good in the spring game and then at right tackle it's Jake Taylor you know with seon and Taylor it's about experience and getting them reps getting them you know game time and they're going to continue to develop that's going to be huge for them those first three games of the regular season getting those guys jelled meshed helping everybody come together but you've got enough Talent you've got enough experience that you can go into this season feeling comfortable with what you've got to work with now will it come together and be a Joe Moore award-winning off offensive line that remains to be seen but I think what we're going to get is an offensive line that's good enough for Oklahoma to put up points and be competitive in the SEC now let's get to the first part of that part that that quote on Brenton venal defense here it is again they're starting to round out on defense to a unit you'd expect Brent venables to be coaching at Clemson dude that's that's great news for Oklahoma that's great news even for the offense because now you're getting closer to complimentary football you're getting closer to a balanced attack that you got to have to be able to win it and win at a very very high level Georgia's defense has been great the best in the nation the offense has been really really really good too Michigan last year the defense was great the offense was really really really good too Oklahoma's offense has been great at times over the last two decades over the last six seven years it was great really good uh and sometimes just good and in the Years where they lost two big 12 games 2020 2021 and then we had the 2022 you know debacle you had offense that wasn't good enough to carry a bad defense and that's kind of where we've kind of come to a head right is that now we're at a point where the defense is getting to the to the point where they can carry the load themselves they can go win a football game for you you're not relying on your offense to go score 40 45 50 points a game for you to win a football game no you've got a defense that's going to be able to hold teams to 24 or less on a regular basis in year one under Brenton venables they allowed 30 points per game not good enough absolutely not good enough he knows that we know that not breaking any news here year two they improved that number by nearly a touchdown a game that's a significant difference to go from 99th in Total Defense or sorry in scoring defense to top 50 in scoring defense that's a big big jump and a touchdown a game may not sound like a big difference but it was a good enough difference to get them from six wins to 10 wins in year two of Brent ven so if they can continue to develop in that kind of same Pace I think we're heading towards a defense that if they can hold teams under 20 points per game on a regular basis or an average of under 20 points per game that's going to put them in a in a position to win double digit games even this year if they can get that number closer to 16 15 now you're cooking now you're cooking with a defense that can go help you win a National Championship and a lot of this is coming from a unit that has retention we talked about it in one of the shows last week retaining guys like Danny stutzman Billy Bowman Ethan DS uh Woody Washington dejon Terry absolutely huge for you did you lose guys to the portal yeah you did on defense you lost Justin Harrington a Shane Whitter you lost Josiah Wagner you know these are guys that okay may not have been starters for you but would have been role players and would have been rotational pieces on your defense huge losses it's hard to argue that they're huge losses but you you don't like walking watching Talent walk out the door and those guys were talented players that filled a a role for you on the depth chart now there's a depth chart squeeze at your depth improves and your talent base improves and that's kind of where Oklahoma's at at this point is that the talent has gotten to a point where some guys are kind of getting squeezed out a little bit and that's just the reality of the roster crunch that that doesn't mean that those guys are bad players you know Josiah Wagner I mean I love that dude's game Justin Harrington if he can stay healthy he's going to be a productive player and so you know the defense is coming and it's and it's getting noticed by SEC coaches and that is a great great sign for Oklahoma we got a couple more quotes we're going to dig into here on the other side of the break we're also going to talk about what Dylan Gabriel had to say regarding his transfer from Oklahoma to Oregon why he decided to stick around at the Collegiate level based on an article and interview he and his family did with the athletic we'll do that next coming up here on locked on Sooners locked on Sooners is brought to you by LinkedIn when you're hiring for your small business you want to go to the place that has the quality professionals that are right for the role that's why you have to check out LinkedIn jobs LinkedIn jobs has the tools to help find the right Professionals for your team faster and for free if you've ever been a part of 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conditions apply are you watching Fox Sports or ESPN on your TV all day have to turn down the volume with all that shouting make the switch to locked on sports today a free 247 sports streaming Channel programmed for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all the screaming lock on sports today brings you can't miss analysis opinions and news streaming 247 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day all right let's dig into the next uh line of thinking the next thought uh a lot of this is going to be along the offensive line and we know that that's where the focus has been right all offseason we've talked offensive line offensive line offensive line let's dig into this Oklahoma is a legit top program well thank you I'm glad that the SEC Anonymous coach understands that Oklahoma is a blue blood they're one of the elite they're one of the best programs in the history of college football and that's not slowing down anytime soon all right Oklahoma is a legit top program but the secret to the SEC is the line play and they won't be able to do what they want on offense if they can't protect against the average DL in the league hey we talked about that in the first segment the offensive line I I'm confident in that and the biggest reason I'm confident in that that I didn't touch on in the first segment and that's Bill beatbo we've seen bill beatbo create offensive lines when we've had questions right you know it seems like every offseason for several years there have been big question marks along the offensive line and they figured it out they found a way to make it all work and make it all come together why is this year going to be any different I have little doubt that this year is going to be any different for Bill beatbo and the offensive line group they've got again they've got the talent they've got the the coaching it's G to come together I want to kind of get to the other side of that portion though and the trench play on the defensive side of the ball I think is going to be another aspect of this that okay we're not quite used to seeing the big beefy SEC physical offensive lines that you know we've not seen those before in in the Big 12 okay maybe Texas this past year had one of those and Oklahoma stood tall four chances from the one couldn't get in I think that's a good sign right there that Oklahoma along the defensive front is is getting closer and is getting to the point where hey they're not going to be pushed around up front anymore that group with downs and dejon Terry and Isaiah Co and Jordan Kelly now Co and Kelly they're gone but you bring back Downs Dean Terry Grayson Halton you bring back you know desan McCulla who played a lot of cheetah that was huge on that goal line stand bring back armeson Thomas ad ofo Adare Trace Ford has been a big you know piece or was a big piece last year as a rotational Edge rusher you add Dominic Williams you add Kaden Ward you add weight to Grayson hton who's now north of 300 pounds you add David Stone and Jaden Jackson who are up over 300 pounds Ashton Sanders Marcus strong continue to develop as well so this defensive front is in a much better position to be able to hold up to the rigors of playing SEC offensive lines week after week after week after week and the depth is better the depth is in a much better place I mean you just look at the nose tackle position alone and they're ready to roll three deep right now with Dominic Williams dejon Terry and Jaden Jackson that's huge that's a big big difference from what this team looked like just a few years back even before dejon Terry got here last off season you didn't really have a suitable nose tackle you had guys that were playing nose tackle Neville gallamore Jaylen Redmond perryon Winfrey but they were under siiz nose tackles playing closer to 285 290 now you've got legit 300 300 300 to 310 to 320 330 Pounders they're going to be able to line up across from the center and legitimately take up space and take up double teams and make things so much easier for your linebackers to run and hit it's why guys like Danny stman and Kip Lewis were able to Dart into the backfield on a regular basis especially on that fourth and goal it's why run plays got bumped outside and Ethan DS and desan McCulla were making play plays on the edge because you have legit guys at defensive tackle that can hold up at the point of attack and aren't getting blown off the ball and aren't getting overwhelmed with size and you've got depth at the position it's not just one guy that's going to be leading the charge and you've added and upgraded your talent at the position too it's not like you just have guys dejon Terry was good I mean he was a big reason why the defense improved last year especially in short yardage on third Downs that was a big reason why Oklahoma improved and then you upgraded on top of that with the Dominic Williams Edition in the transfer portal someone who Brent Venable just raved about last week at the the SEC meetings in dtin you added Jaden Jackson Who for again was one of my favorite players in the whole 2024 recruiting cycle even before he committed to Oklahoma because that's a dude that has three down potential at defensive tackle because he can rush the passer as well as play the run as well as anybody and he's just a true freshman so I'm not going to heat these huge expectations on him to be in domakin sue you know week one with the Oklahoma Sooners but in a rotational role as a true freshman again that's a dynamic Trio at nose tackle and then you go over to that three technique defensive tackle and it's looking more and more Dynamic all the time and then your Edge group is deep you know Ethan down Kaden woard two very experienced guys with pass rush productivity you add guys like Ado adab and armeson Thomas and Trace Ford to the mix and you've got a trio right there that brings a lot of juice and I think Ethan DS is going to show even more in a pass rush productivity Department excuse me than he has to this point in his career and he's been good but I think he takes another step towards being a great player this year I think the trench play is going to surprise a lot of people in particular it's going to surprise a lot of SEC teams let's dig into the last comment here from the anonymous SEC coaches via Athlon Sports if you're looking for a new offense it won't be drastically different from former offensive coordinator Jeff lebby but they've got to run the ball more effectively than they did when he was there Seth Latrell is a made to order kind of OC a really experienced guy who is going to be a scheme or is going to scheme to fit his Personnel I I'm excited about the the Seth Latrell higher anytime that you add a fullback HB into the mix as an offensive play caller I think it's going to help create a little bit different identity for you um one that's maybe a little bit more physical at the point of attack one that's going to get downhill a little bit more I think some of the the misconception about Oklahoma offensive or rushing ability was due to the usage and the deployment of the running back group also just trying to figure out offensive line right you know you didn't have your offensive line settled for the first half of last season and it showed but also your running back room wasn't really settled for the first half of last season either and it showed I think going into this year even though you've got complete turnover on offensive line the fact that you've got stability at running back and health at running back is going to help the offensive line as well because you're G to have a running back room that isn't trying to get up to speed in season they're ready to go week one and they're ready to to make a big impact week one and I mean based on what you've got up front along the offensive line and the guys you've you've brought in you should have a pretty clear picture of what your offensive Line's going to look like starting week one now there might be a little bit of variation between okay Jacob ston left tackle he oida or garyan Hatchet at left guard Branson Hickman at Center faet weu and then Jake Taylor right tackle so there might be some variations at the along the left side but I think we got a pretty clear picture of what the offensive Line's going to look like I think the running game is going to be really good we saw that he's an aggressive play caller I think they're going to use a lot of RPO stuff just to kind of simplify some things and get the Easy Button going for for Jackson Arnold at times or at least that's what it looked like in the in the bowl game but again hard to know what the bowl game offense is going to be because or what the offense is going to look like based on the bowl game because I mean they were just trying to get install done get on the same page but I do think we see a lot of RPO stuff but we're gonna see you know deep shots you know Seth Latrell Jackson Arnold they're gonna show off that arm and they're going to use guys like Nick Anderson and Deion Burks and Jaden Gibson Andel Anthony Brenan Thompson and jqu pedway Jalil Faro to get the ball down field and stress and threaten defenses and I think we're going to see a much more effective and efficient deep passing game than what we've seen in the past under dyl and Gabriel it was good under Levy and Gabriel don't get me wrong it was really really good but it was also at times inefficient whether it was the timing of the downfield patterns or a little bit of inaccuracy I think that's where kind of some of it uh some of that inefficiency came home to roost speaking of Dylan Gabriel uh he he had an interview with the athletic him and his family um and it's a great article highly recommend everybody go check that out but uh we're going to dig into some of the reasons why he left Oklahoma for Oregon coming up here on locked on Sooners it's winner take all time in the NBA and na HL and fanduels giving you a shot to bring home a big win of your own right now new customers get $150 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that's a 150 bucks to bet on spreads money lines player props and more visit fanduel.com lockon and make every playoff shot count again that Oklahoma over under wind total sitting at seven and a half that's looking really really juicy if you want to get in on the action go to fanduel.com lockon fanduel.com America's number one sports book Dylan Gabriel looked like he was going to be heading to the NFL after the 2023 season had a huge year for the Oklahoma Sooners with over 40 total touchdowns big passing yards had big games you know throughout the season was a big reason why Oklahoma won 10 games surprised a lot of people I remember when that transfer portal announcement came down and he decided he was going to enter the transfer portal looking at options I think everybody kind of looked at it like okay he's just going to explore some options see what's out there and still maybe go to the NFL well turned out he was going to go to Oregon instead looked like he ended up finding an opportunity to reignite with a or reunite with a coach that had recruited him a little bit when he was coming out of high school and Dan Lanning when Lanning was still at Oregon but this was a very very intriguing move and I love the move for Dylan Gabriel it's a fantastic landing spot for him in an offense that can put up big big numbers on a team that's going to have a good defense and they're going to be a contender this year I really think Oregon is going to be one of the teams to beat in the Big 10 as much as everybody wants to kind of gas up Ohio State and you're looking at Michigan as well Penn State is going to be a problem Oregon is kind of is the team especially of the relocating teams whether it's se you know Big 12 to SEC or you know pack to big or packed to Big 12 I really think Oregon is the team that might make the most noise in year one aside from the Oklahoma Sooners of course Oklahoma Sooners are going to make a ton of noise in the SEC in 2024 but Dylan Gabriel uh sat down or had an interview with the athletic and Christopher camani it was a fantastic article highly recommend you read it over there at theathletic.com you can just search Dylan Gabriel theathletic and it'll pop up for you and it just really goes through everything that went down and how things transpired and what led to Dylan ending up at Oregon and I thought several of these things were were really noteworthy that he received a seventh round grade or an undrafted free agent grade coming out after the 2023 season had he gone into the NFL draft that surprises me but not really so a very very productive passer but not big and if you're not big you better be very very toolsy or you better have some Elite trait somewhere right if you're you know Kyler Murray you're 59 but you're quick twitch you have a huge arm and your accurate is all get out and you're fast like fast fast then teams are going to be more willing to overlook some of the size issues and and the other part of you know Kyler Murray's Kyler Murray's game that makes him really really intriguing and that you're willing to to bet on his size holding up is that he knows how to get down he knows how to not take a lot of big hits he showed that at Oklahoma just really really can get into that baseball side really really quick can avoid big punishing tackles dlan Gabriel took a lot of big hits uh during his time in college the other aspect of that you know is just sometimes like okay Gabriel was really really good and then there were times where you know we saw it the Kansas game where the coach just kind of took the ball out of his hands we saw other times the West Virginia game from 2022 where he wasn't super consistent and I think that might have scared some teams off to evaluate him as a fourth fifth or sixth round potential quarterback but somebody will get a steal with Gabriel at some point down the road whether they take him as a draft selection or they get him as an undrafted free agent he's going to be one of those guys that can have a long lengthy career as a b backup but why did he decide to leave Oklahoma I think a lot of people were expecting either he comes back to Oklahoma or he goes to the NFL he entered the transfer portal kind of came as a bit of a surprise and and I say a lot of people expected that I think there was also a big chunk of the fan base that expected it just to be Jackson Arnold's team for good reason because at OU media day in August most everybody talked about hey Dylan C is going to be done after this year it's Jackson Arnold's team after that I think that was the the talk around campus that was the talk from the coaches there was no real expectation that Dylan Gabriel would stick around for one more year that he'd be off to the NFL whether it was venables or Jeff lebby it was all kind of pretty clear that it was gonna be Jackson Arnold's team in 2024 and in this article from the athletic uh Gabriel's mom Dory kind of speaks to that that part of what Dylan Gabriel left or part of the reason why Dylan Gabriel left was because of Jackson Arnold and not because Gabriel was unwilling to compete with Arnold for snaps or for a starting quarterback role but there was this thought and Gabriel's mom expresses this in the article she says he just knew if he stayed Jackson might leave and he didn't want that for the program if you feel like returning is going to cause more harm to the program than good then you do what you have to do uh his dad also talks about the idea that it's a business and there could have been some discussion between venables and Gabriel that that laid out the reality that's like hey you can come back and compete for a starting job but there's no guarantees here or it could have been pretty well laid out that hey if you stick around Jackson might leave who knows what the discussion was none of us really know what the discussion between venables and Gabriel was like or venables and Arnold what know is that hey Gabriel decided to to explore an opportunity elsewhere and if he decided to go to Oregon to make sure that Jackson Arnold wouldn't leave Oklahoma then I mean shout out Dylan Gabriel like that's that servant heart mentality and putting the program first I mean he was only at Oklahoma for a couple years but very much endeared him to Oklahoma Sooner fans during his time he was a leader he came at a a critical point in Oklahoma football history Lincoln Riley leaving Caleb Williams following Oklahoma kind of dead in the water without a quarterback Spencer Rattler left also you didn't have a quarterback Gabriel was slated to go to UCLA and decided to tell Chip Kelly I'm sorry I'm gonna go follow Jeff lebby to Oklahoma that's a tough call and that's a tough conversation to have and Dylan Gabriel had that conversation and came to Oklahoma and put together two really really good years not Heisman Trophy winning years but really good years and you know he's not going to be remembered in that upper echelons with the Sam Bradfords and Kyler and Baker and Landry Jones and Josh hyp and Jason whites he's not gonna be remembered in that Echelon of quarterback Jaylen Herz but I think he's kind of in that next tier right of quarterback in that in the modern era of Oklahoma football now there's a whole lot from the Wilkinson Switzer you know days that they're different types of quarterbacks they're not the big you know passing number quarterbacks but this right here for Gabriel is just one of those those things that can help etch your name in Oklahoma CER lore for a long time if his mom is to be believed and I mean I'm not going to sit here and call anybody's mom a liar I want to take her at her word that Gabriel was concerned about the future of Oklahoma football and not in a sense that they're going to struggle to find quarterbacks if I leave but you've got Jackson Arnold a five-star quarterback Elite 11 winner it would be not great if he left it would not be great for the Oklahoma Sooners if he left maybe I need to go find another place to play and I mean he he did he found another great opportunity and a great situation for him to apply his craft and maybe increase his draft stock a little bit more and if not get another you know get an nil payday that could help set him up for the next you know who knows how many years and so you know shout out to Dylan Gabriel you know I I I know there were a lot of people who didn't really have any hard feelings to Gabriel toward Gabriel when he left I'd say the majority were encouraging towards him and thankful for the time that he gave Oklahoma and this is just another moment to be thankful for that he decided and that this is this was a an important thing for him to do to help Oklahoma football secure its future especially going into the SEC so thanks Dylan Gabriel for that again go read that article over at the athletic fantastic piece of work great great uh Insight from G Gabriel and from his parents just about how everything transpired last December January or so Dan Lanning talking about Gabriel and what he brings to the Oregon Ducks it's gonna be a really fun team to watch this year I know we're not super fond of Oregon for reasons but uh you know I'm GNA be tuning into some Oregon games just because one I like the uniforms I'm a big fan of the uniforms but uh too just to see what Dylan Gabriel is able to able to do uh in their first run through the Big 10 and that's going to do it for today's episode of lockon Sooners thanks so much for tuning into the show subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcast also go check out check out that locked on 247 sports streaming Channel on YouTube and now it's also available on Amazon Fire TV in the free Fire TV channels app locked on sports today is here for you 247 covering the top sports stories of the day with the local Experts of locked on plus our national shows covering every League find locked on sports today now available on the free Fire TV channels app you can follow on Twitter at john9 Williams the show is locked oners you can also read my work covering the Oklahoma Sooners over at thewire.com but until next time I'm John Williams Boomer Sooner