Brent Venables on Dillon Gabriel's transfer - 'Can't make a guy stay' - ESPN

With Oklahoma navigating an unexpected quarterback change, Brent Venables offered unprompted insight on Tuesday afternoon into the circumstances surrounding veteran quarterback Dillon Gabriel's departure from the program late last year.

Gabriel, the sixth-year quarterback, spent two seasons under center with the Sooners before transferring to Oregon for the 2024 campaign. Days after Oklahoma benched Gabriel's replacement — former five-star quarterback Jackson Arnold — in Saturday's Week 4 loss to Tennessee, Venables used his weekly news conference to deliver his perspective on Gabriel's exit into the transfer portal after the 2023 season and the meeting that preceded it.

«You can't make a guy stay,» said the Sooners' third-year coach. «The guy is trying to find the next thing; the next chapter for him. I'm sure there was probably some disappointment that [Gabriel] wasn't more highly thought of in the NFL. He had an amazing year. He was a fantastic quarterback. But we didn't run anybody off or things like that.»

Gabriel, who began his career at UCF in 2019, threw for 6,828 yards and 55 touchdowns across two seasons with the Sooners. He entered his second season at Oklahoma last fall with plans to enter the 2024 NFL draft before Gabriel led the Sooners to a 10-2 finish during the regular season, highlighted by a come-from-behind victory over Texas on Oct. 7.

Despite a productive 2023 campaign, Gabriel did not receive favorable NFL draft grades following his fifth season, a development that influenced his decision to return to college football in 2024.

According to Venables, Gabriel asked for a meeting in the days following Oklahoma's 2023 regular-season finale against TCU. During the meeting, Venables said, Gabriel