UCF QB Dillon Gabriel is ready to take the next step in Year 3

For a moment, the noise and distraction of being a college football player seem to drift away from Dillon Gabriel.

He’s smack dab in the middle of Bounce House Stadium, where on any given Saturday in the fall, 44,000 screaming UCF fans would be watching his every move. But on this day, the stadium is empty and Gabriel has stepped away for a few moments of peace during a photoshoot.

It’s been a busy summer for the junior, who spent time as a counselor at the Manning Passing Academy alongside some of the biggest and brightest college quarterbacks in the country. Then there was the debut of his personal brand of apparel, which came about as college players were able to profit from their name, image and likeness through state legislation.

“I felt like I’ve made a lot of strides mentally, physically and even spiritually,” Gabriel said of the offseason. “More than anything, it’s just been a big learning process.”

Gabriel has made noticeable steps on the physical side of things, adding five pounds of muscle to his 6-foot, 200-pound frame. It’s a far cry from the 186-pound high school product who arrived on campus in the spring of 2019.

Gabriel is set to begin his third season as the Knights’ starting quarterback, with the lefthander well on his way to becoming one of the top statistical record-holders in school history. He’s accounted for 7,223 passing yards along with 61 passing touchdowns in 23 career appearances. His numbers are on par with the likes of Knights greats such as Daunte Culpepper, Ryan Schneider, McKenzie Milton and Blake Bortles.

Gabriel has received several preseason accolades, finding his way onto the watch lists for the Maxwell, Davey O’Brien, and Walter Camp awards. He was named the fourth-best quarterback in the country by Pro Football Focus, nestled behind Oklahoma’s Spencer Rattler, North Carolina’s Sam Howell, and Miami’s D’Eriq King.

Gabriel’s biggest development this offseason isn’t in the form of numbers.

“This summer, it was the leadership part that stood out to me,” said UCF coach Gus Malzahn, who took over the program on Feb. 15. “Working on his own — you know coaches can’t work with guys; they got to work on their own — he had his receivers out there a lot and he always was around the complex.

“You can tell the urgency is high for him.”

“He seems more like a veteran now,” said second-year center Matt Lee. “His leadership developed a lot last year, but now he’s in like a full-on team leader. People are counting on him to be the guy, the quarterback, and he brings that to work every day. Whether we’re in the meeting room or lifting or whether we’re outside running at 6 a.m. in the summer, he’s always getting after it. He’s always motivating us and making sure we’re on our stuff.”

Added redshirt junior guard Cole Schneider, “He’s always been a leader by example and doing the right things when he’s supposed to go above and beyond, but I feel like he’s becoming a lot more vocal. He’s getting a lot more comfortable in his position and his role as a quarterback.”

It was Gabriel who stepped up when former coach Josh Heupel surprised many by leaving the program to become the new coach at Tennessee on Jan. 26. Heupel took the majority of his staff with him, leaving players to fend for themselves until a new coach was hired.

Malzahn arrived a few weeks later and it wasn’t long before he was making an impression on Gabriel.

“I love coach Gus. He’s a great guy,” said Gabriel. “I think he’s a great role model for me, just in the way he treats his wife, the way he treats people around the facility. That’s the kind of man I want to be and whenever you have that kind of guy in the building in a big leadership role, it speaks volumes and it trickles down.”

G.J. Kinne, who took over as the Knights’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, knew little of Gabriel outside of what he saw on television, but he was familiar with where he grew up in Mililani on the island of Oahu in Hawaii.

It’s been that familiarity that’s helped with the pair making a connection.

“I know where his high school is and I know the beaches. I know some of the people that he knows,” said Kinne, who spent last season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Hawaii. “I think anytime you have a familiarity with the place; I think it’s always easy. So that’s been a smooth transition.”

A journeyman passer during his professional career, Kinne has been fortunate to play with his fair share of talented quarterbacks with successful college careers, including Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford, Nick Foles, Mark Sanchez and Michael Vick.

“He’s right there with all those guys. He can spin it with any of those guys, for sure,” said Kinne. “Every day he does something that impresses me.”

But it’s Vick that Kinne sees the most similarities with Gabriel.

“The flick of the wrist, the twitch in his arm and his release,” explained Kinne. “A lot of people can throw it 85 yards and all that but the zip on the ball and the intermediate throws — the way he can whip it with that left arm is impressive.”

Kinne sees the next steps in Gabriel’s development as taking on a larger role as a coach on the field.

“I think he’s been a guy that has a lot of natural ability and natural instincts. Now it’s just understanding and seeing the big picture of things, which I think he’s done a good job of,” Kinne said.

To Gabriel’s credit, he wants to see more out of himself in 2021.

“I felt like in the first year, I managed games. And my second year, I felt like I controlled them. And this year, I want to take [them] over,” Gabriel said.

This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email Matt Murschel at mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @osmattmurschel.