It seems Oklahoma linebacker Owen Heinecke's college career as a Sooner is over, but that doesn't mean the end to his football career.
After a lengthy battle with the NCAA that included an appeal to get one more year of eligibility at OU, SoonerScoop's George Stoia reported Tuesday that Heinecke's appeal was denied. The news came while Heinecke was already in Indianapolis to participate in the NFL Scouting Combine this week in preparation for the 2026 NFL Draft.
The argument for Heinecke to get another season was that his college journey started as a lacrosse player at Ohio State, where he appeared in three games for a total of about 15 minutes. He then transferred to OU as a walk-on in 2022, but was sidelined that entire season because of an injury.
NCAA denies Heinecke's Oklahoma appeal while at NFL Combine
Between the injury and just three lacrosse games counting as a year of eligibility, OU and many others believed Heinecke deserved another season, but Heinecke confirmed the unfortunate news on Wednesday morning during his first press conference at the NFL Combine.
"I really only started this past year as a linebacker for Oklahoma," Heinecke said. "I wanted to keep all my options open. One of those options was possibly going back for another year and not using my year at Ohio State lacrosse as a year toward football, so just trying to keep all my options open.
"Really leaning on family and the Lord for which direction is right for me. That got denied, and I'm excited to make the next steps."
Oklahoma LB Owen Heinecke on his process of applying and being denied for an extra year of eligibility pic.twitter.com/CTRre8Y2rK
— Ryan Roberts (@RiseNDraft) February 25, 2026
The initial question many fans had after the news was if Heinecke would sue the NCAA like many others have this offseason. That's unknown, but at least for this week, Heinecke is still a 2026 NFL Draft prospect, which would have been unthinkable this time last year. According to Houston Football's Cody Stoots, even Heinecke himself admitted that six months ago he figured he'd be headed for a desk job at this point in his life.
After playing on special and as a reserve linebacker the previous two seasons, Heinecke broke out in 2025 to eventually earn a starting job at middle linebacker and earned Second-Team All-SEC honors. He recorded 74 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, three sacks and forced a fumble while playing in all 13 games. Even with just one season a contributor on OU's defense, Heinecke impressed enough to earn invites to the Senior Bowl and the NFL Combine.
Heinecke not returning to Oklahoma, barring a massive turn of events, is certainly devastating for Sooner Nation. The Sooners' defense will still be just fine in 2026, though, and so will Heinecke. He stood out on one of the best defenses in the country while competing in a conference that's famous for dominant defenses. In a way, Heinecke has an even better jumpstart to his NFL career than he did in college football.
No matter what the NCAA or a court decides, Owen Heinecke will still be playing football next season.