Will Stein reveals plan for Dillon Gabriel at Oregon, carryover from past

For the most part, Dillon Gabriel has been in one offensive scheme his entire college career. Jeff Lebby ran a form of Art Briles‘ offense at UCF and even after leaving the program, it stayed similar. And then once leaving Orlando for Norman, Lebby was there at Oklahoma to run it back with Gabriel.

Now at Oregon, offensive coordinator Will Stein has a ton of respect for what Lebby has done with Gabriel. The stats show UCF and Oklahoma had some of the best offenses in college football when the duo worked together.

“A ton of respect for Jeff Lebby,” Stein said during Thursday’s episode of Andy Staples On3. “What he’s been able to do on offense. The guy only has explosive offenses every single year. So, knowing that and having a ton of respect for the guy that called it for Dillon prior, and then having a ton of respect for Dillon and his career.”

Things are going to be a little different in Eugune, though.

Stein went back and watched every game Gabriel played at Oklahoma to see if there was any crossover between the two schemes. He did find some but Gabriel is going to have a transition period. Oregon uses different verbiage which may as well be speaking a different language.

“I went back and watched every single game from Oklahoma,” Stein said. “Tagged plays that are in our system, that fit what we do, along with what fit Dillon, what fits his eye, and his ability. The good thing is, there’s a lot of carryover. Their shot game and three-level pass game — I feel like there is a ton of carryover for Dillon, it’s just different words we used compared to the offense he was in before.”

But at the end of the day, Stein is going to keep the same offense implemented while throwing in some familiar concepts for Gabriel. He transferred out West in order to prepare him for the NFL and Stein believes Oregon presents him the best opportunity to do so.

“Dillon is a fast learner,” Stein said. “He’s eager to learn, he’s a football junkie, he grinds. I think it’s been really good for him because going to the next level, he’s going to be running a lot of the same schemes. We’re going to try to put him in place to have a really successful year and keep this train rolling.”