After being a backup most of his college football career, Jaren Kanak is finally a starter, but on the completely other side of the ball.
Kanak, a senior, converted from linebacker to tight end over the offseason, and when the Oklahoma Sooners released their first depth chart of the season, Kanak was already listed as the starting tight end for the season opener against Illinois State at 5 p.m. CT Saturday.
Jaren Kanak earned OU's starting TE job
"Jaren was absolutely consistent all fall camp," OU offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle said. "Not just in his play, but how he was in the film room and his studies being in the building. And the best thing that Jaren did at practice, when the ball came his way, he made the play. That was real exciting. He was consistently making the play.
"Someone who understands where he's supposed to be in certain concepts, how to run the rout and body position himself to get open. I think he built a really good rapport with (quarterback) John (Mateer)."
Kanak has appeared in every game the past three seasons since signing with the Sooners in 2023 as a consensus four-star recruit out of Hays High School in Kansas, where he excelled on both sides of the ball. Once at OU, though, Kanak focused on just one position for the first time in his football life.
By the time Kanak was a sophomore in 2023, he cracked the starting lineup at linebacker for the first nine games of the season. He then made one start last year. But as the Sooners got deeper at linebacker with a defensive head coach like Brent Venables, they became more desperate for Kanak on the other side of the ball.
OU tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley added four players from the Transfer Portal this offseason, but none had any serious experience at the Power Four level, if any at all. OU also already had Kaden Helms and Kade McIntyre on the roster, but neither have gotten much playing time.
So even though Saturday could be the first Kanak catches a pass actually thrown to him in a college football game, he's not much different than his teammates at the position.
"Jaren went out there and he earned it," Arbuckle said. "And that's not to say those other guys haven't done an unbelievable job. They are all still going to play, too. But Jaren earned the right to run out there first."
Read more about OU football