Whether it be on command or just if the mood is right, Dillon Gabriel can transform the Oregon quarterbacks meeting room into an improv stage by transforming himself. And laughs most always follow.
The 24-year-old sixth-year quarterback, who will lead the No. 1-seed Ducks against No. 8 Ohio State in the Rose Bowl quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff on New Year’s Day, nails impersonations of all the coaches he’s played for during his now-historic career.
He can deadpan like Josh Heupel, his first head coach at UCF, at a postgame podium.
He will nail the smooth west Arkansas drawl of Gus Malzahn, who succeeded Heupel at UCF when he left for Tennessee.
Gabriel’s offensive coordinator at both UCF and Oklahoma, Jeff Lebby, one of the most influential coaches he’s had, is easy because of the years they spent together.
It’s barely been a year since Gabriel committed to Oregon, but he’s got the Dan Lanning part down pat, all the way down to sounding like the Ducks head coach has gargled gravel and lost his voice.
“He can do it all,” Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein said. “It’s not just the voices. It’s all the mannerisms. He’s a great actor.”
Gabriel, who finished third in this year’s Heisman Trophy voting, is a savvy lefty who has started more games than any other quarterback in the history of the sport. This year, he broke the NCAA FBS record for most touchdowns in a career. He’s done it in a familiar number in Eugene, showcasing the No. 8 for his childhood idol, fellow Hawaiian QB and Ducks legend Marcus Mariota. This will be Gabriel’s sole year with the Ducks, but his journey here is being celebrated by those who say Gabriel is among the most unique personalities they’ve come across in any college locker room.
Next stop: NYC 🎱
Dillon Gabriel is officially a Heisman Trophy finalist. #GoDucks @_dillongabriel_ x @HeismanTrophy pic.twitter.com/qWthnepmx7
— Oregon Football (@oregonfootball) December 9, 2024
“Goofy as all get out,” said former Oklahoma wide receiver Drake Stoops.
Former UCF right guard Parker Boudreaux is now a professional wrestler with millions of followers on social media. A master of character himself, Boudreaux said even as a young quarterback at UCF, Gabriel was never shy about introducing his true self to the team. The pair had tutoring sessions together where Gabriel not only had Boudreaux rolling but even the tutor had a hard time focusing because of his jokes.
“He was one of the funniest dudes on the team,” Boudreaux said. “A very different dude.”
Gabriel lugs around a large old school boom box wherever he thinks it’s needed. He brings it to offseason summer workouts with his receivers when temperatures are soaring. He brings it in the locker room after a long day of practice. And when he hits play on his phone, the show starts.
“He’d be dancing all over the locker room to this weird EDM electronic music and he had everyone dying laughing.” Stoops said. “It’s just about the way he talks, the jokes he makes, the way he f—s with people, it’s very unique to him. To know him is to love him.”
Stein said Gabriel knows every employee associated with Oregon football — from the assistant equipment managers to the cafeteria workers to the security guards — by name. He knows their stories, too, because he wants to. Gabriel, who grew up in Mililani nearly two hours north of Honolulu, believes that while he has a platform because of his abilities with a football in his left hand, it’s the people who have surrounded him at every turn that make him who he is.
“This is a guy who makes sure all our walk-on guys are included in all of his group text messages,” Stein said. “He sent one recently to the QB group that said: ‘Christmas pajama party Thursday. Make sure you’re there.’ He can bring an entire group together and make sure everybody’s having a good time better than anybody I know.”
Gabriel can sift through what he calls the “illusion” of celebrity, fame and substance having lived it up close for six years now. For as prolific as his path has been, for all the gaudy stats and winning at every stop, he was crestfallen last offseason when his plans to enter the 2024 NFL Draft were dashed by the feedback that he’d likely be an undrafted free agent. Oregon — nor any other school for that matter — was not in the cards before that dash of reality hit.
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“I understand the illusion. I understand the whole deal now,” he said during Oregon’s Rose Bowl prep. “As a young kid, you look up to it and you watch others do it. And you read it. But once you’re in it and you experience it, you understand that we’re all the same. I’m not bigger than anyone or too small for anyone. Shoot, I am who I am. That’s the confidence of knowing anyone I’m in front of, I’m just going to be myself. I think people get lost in that at times.”
As those who know Gabriel have pointed out, most in his position could be adrift and awash in the stardom.
Not many quarterbacks in the history of the sport have thrown for 18,423 yards or completed 1,347 passes or thrown for 153 touchdowns (two TDs shy of Case Keenum’s all-time record) and ran for another 33 more. Gabriel has a plethora of name, image and likeness deals that pay him handsomely, most recently signing with national hair salon chain Great Clips. But he’s still the guy who, upon arriving in Eugene, opted to go with a white Chrysler Pacifica minivan. It’s a hybrid so it gets good gas mileage. It’s handy for when teammates want to pile in or when he wants to deliver gifts for teammates.
“Some of these college football players nowadays act like they’re pro wrestlers or something,” Boudreaux said. “They get the money and they become a gimmick. Even when he’s blown up at every spot, he’s maintained himself. He hasn’t gotten too big-time.”
Gabriel’s mother, Dori, said he’s known around the Oregon locker room by a fitting moniker.
“They call him ‘Pops’ because he’s older, but he’s only 24,” she said. “But he lives up to the part. I mean, he drives the van.”
Comfort is important to him beyond the vehicle choice, too. Stoops said Gabriel has several pairs of what became known around the Oklahoma locker room as the “grandpa shoes.” Gabriel is a true believer in Nike Monarchs, a style of 1990s sneaker that looks, well, like something your dad or grandfather might wear. Gabriel has some customized for himself as a joke. Some have Gucci insignias inscribed on them. Others he ordered special in all-white.
“I feel like that’s how we should all be as humans,” Stoops said. “Too many times do we care what other people think and we want to act the way society says we should act. He just is like screw all that. I’m going to be myself, I’m going to work hard and be successful and make a lot of friends along the way. He’s never met a stranger in his life.”
Gabriel beams brightest when he gets to provide some sunshine about basically anyone other than himself. Which is why when he was asked to reveal what his Heisman ballot would’ve looked like, he went on to audible about how he isn’t where he is now because of a desire for individual recognition.
“If I wanted individual awards, I would’ve played tennis or golf,” he said. “But I play football.”
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For the next three weeks, if Gabriel can continue leading these unblemished Ducks toward that collective glory, he will have secured that one missing piece of a college football legacy that will live on. To viewers all around the country and to those who appreciate the man in the grandpa shoes putting the pedal to the floor of the hybrid minivan.
“That wisdom is what’s driving this whole experience. He knows this is it,” Dori Gabriel said. “He knows all the work he’s put in. He’s using every last bit of experience — the good, the bad, the lessons, the blessings, everything he’s learned he’s bringing to these moments. The best version of himself is here finally.”
