Sooners now have to hit the transfer portal for a position they likely didn’t think they’d have to
The Sooners are going to miss linebacker Kobie McKinzie, and need to hit the transfer portal.
Many people look at a team that fell short of its ultimate goal and think it can only get better when it is ahead of schedule. It still feels that way with the Oklahoma Sooners, but there are also so many variables at hand that no one ever seems to factor in. The transfer portal era is one of them.
Just days after the Sooners lost to the Alabama Crimson Tide in the College Football Playoff, star linebacker Kobie McKinzie decided to enter the transfer portal. The portal opens on Jan. 2 and closes on Jan 16. McKinzie was a huge part, one of the biggest parts, of this big-time defense.
“Our best days are sitting in front of us. I really believe that,” head coach Brett Venables told reporters after the home College Football Playoff loss. “This is a group that got us to our fifth playoff and did, in many ways, to many people, the unthinkable.”
I’m sure when Venables originally said this, he may have thought he would be getting McKinzie back.
Oklahoma Sooners now have to look for a new linebacker in the transfer portal
This decision by McKinzie is pretty surprising. He’s been with Oklahoma since 2022, when he decided to flip from the Texas Longhorns to the Sooners. He has one year of eligibility left and is deciding to go somewhere else, free-spending his entire career with the Sooners. That’s a bit odd.
McKinzie often played the role of the coverage linebacker, which is why his tackle numbers aren’t as good as those of linebackers like Kip Lewis and Owen Heinecke. McKinzie has played a different role and position than those two guys.
McKinzie hadn’t played a ton the last month, though. Many thought he would be leaving to declare for the NFL. It turns out, he’s leaving to play somewhere else. Look for McKinzie to be interested in other SEC schools, and maybe even Texas.
The Sooners will do some hunting now and hopefully find a guy to fill the void.
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