Oklahoma football recruiting gains recommitment from a four-star 2022 linebacker

It’s been a back-and-forth week for 2022 four-star linebacker Kobie McKenzie, but the bottom line is he’s back in the Oklahoma football column, having recommitted to the Sooners on Monday.

McKenzie, a 6-foot, 2-inch, 245-pounder linebacker from Lubbock, Texas, was one of the first players to decommit from OU’ 2022 class after it was announced that Lincoln Riley was leaving for USC but before Brent Venables was announced as the new Oklahoma head coach.

The player rated as the 13th best linebacker prospect in the 2022 class and the No. 6 inside linebacker, according to 247Sports, had been committed to the Sooners since January 2020.

On Dec. 3, two days before the Venables hire by the Sooners, McKenzie committed to the Texas Longhorns. On Monday, he flipped back to his original choice. If you want to play for someone who knows a thing or two about linebackers, going with Venables and the Sooners was an obvious choice.

During a 10-year stint with the Clemson Tigers, Venables, who before that was on Bob Stoops’ coaching staff at Oklahoma for 13 seasons, was widely recognized as one of the best defensive coordinators in college football.

McKenzie was one of the players Venables paid a home visit to last week after hitting the recruiting trail for the Sooners.

Like four-star quarterback Nick Evers, who also announced his commitment to Oklahoma on Monday, McKenzie was in Norman over the weekend on a recruiting visit.

McKenzie is the 14th commitment in the Sooners’ 2022 class, which is back on the uptick after losing several commitments immediately following the Riley departure. A week ago the OU 2022 class was ranked 21st by 247Sports, but as of Monday, the Sooners are back to 13th, which was the vicinity they were in prior to Riley leaving.