Oklahoma coach Brent Venables excited about his new QB: 'Dillon Gabriel's a winner'

There's something about Oklahoma quarterbacks and being awesome. 

The list is long. From Jalen Hurts, Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield, to "old school" quarterbacks like Sam Bradford, Jason White, Josh Heupel and Troy Aikman.

Oklahoma is a quarterback school, and that's not likely to change under new head coach Brent Venables.

Sure, he's got a defensive background from his time leading terrific defenses at Clemson, but Venables does have a leg up heading into his inaugural season thanks to Dillon Gabriel, who transferred from UCF after three years.

Although Oklahoma is facing a season of shocking uncertainty after previously having shocking certainty at the head-coaching position — with years of Bob Stoops at the helm followed by his protege, Lincoln Riley — the Sooners at least know they have experience at the quarterback position.

Gabriel has thrown for 8,037 yards and 70 passing touchdowns over his college career. He's a bona fide starter, and Venables is understandably excited to have the veteran college quarterback under center this season.

"Dillon Gabriel's a winner," Venables said, according to Dave Wilson of ESPN. "You can't say it any better than that. I can lay my head down at night knowing not just what [Gabriel] has done on the football field, but the quality of the person he is. He's about all the right stuff. He's dependable, he's reliable, he's accountable, he's humble."

He's also about to be thrown under one of the biggest spotlights not just in college football, but in sports in general. Still, Venables doesn't appear to be too worried about whether or not his new quarterback can handle the pressure. Speaking of, about 40% of OU's roster has yet to play for the Sooners in a game. The prospect of representing the Sooners in live action could come with a ton of pressure, but like with Gabriel, Venables is confident in the makeup of his team.

"You're dealing with a locker room that has won 78 games the last seven years that have played a bunch of playoffs and a bunch of championship games," Venables said. "This is a group and this is a locker room that is used to winning."