Former Oklahoma Sooners LB heads to Big Ten program

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The Oklahoma Sooners have been busy acquiring talent in the NCAA transfer portal. However, other teams around the country have been busy adding former OU players to their rosters as well. The latest case of this comes in a former Sooner veteran that could end up being an important loss.

Former Oklahoma linebacker Kobie McKinzie is transferring to play for the Northwestern Wildcats. He spent four years in Norman, after arriving at OU as part of the 2022 recruiting class. After a career with the Sooners that included 84 tackles, 10.5 TFLs, two passes defended and 2.5 sacks, McKinzie will arrive at Northwestern with one year of eligibility remaining.

McKinzie was a starter at inside linebacker to begin the season for the Sooners, but as the year wore along, he ceded snaps in the LB rotation to other players, mainly Owen Heinecke, who took McKinzie’s starting spot. Still, McKinzie was still an important role player for Oklahoma at the second level, and he’ll bring his experience under one of college football’s best defensive coaching staffs at OU to the Wildcats this season.

Inside linebacker is a position that is still up in the air in 2026 for the Sooners. With McKinzie’s exit, and the uncertainty surrounding weather or not Heinecke will be granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA, the Sooners could have some reloading to do at that spot. Furthermore, Kip Lewis could choose to go to the NFL, which would leave Oklahoma in an even more perilous spot at linebacker.

OU hopes to retain Sammy Omosigho, and would love to see Heinecke and/or Lewis return for one last ride, but look for the Sooners to be active in the transfer portal when it comes to adding players at the inside linebacker spot.

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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Former Sooners linebacker transferring to Big Ten team

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