4-star LB Kobie McKinzie details why he wound back up at Oklahoma

Four-star linebacker Kobie McKinzie caught up with KLBK sports director Arielle Schafer to detail why he flipped back to Oklahoma.

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Four-star linebacker Kobie McKinzie flipping back to Oklahoma electrified the Sooner fan base earlier this week.

It capped a whirlwind recruitment for McKinzie. The 6-foot-2, 245 pound linebacker out of Lubbock, Texas, initially committed to OU back on Jan. 15, 2020.

Then, after Lincoln Riley bolted Norman for USC, McKinzie reevaluated his decision. He decommitted from the Sooners on Nov. 28 and committed to Oklahoma’s arch rival in the Texas Longhorns on Dec. 5.

After a little over a week, McKinzie made the decision to flip back to Oklahoma.

McKinzie detailed his decision to rejoin the Sooners’ 2022 recruiting class with KLBK sports director Arielle Schafer.

“It means a lot. These have been some of the most stressful and overwhelming weeks of my life for sure. Everybody in the world doesn’t understand what it’s like to be in this position. Making my decision it wasn’t to persuade or to convince anybody of what I thought was going to, you know, push me to Oklahoma,” McKinzie said.

Naturally, new Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables was a big piece of the puzzle as to why McKinzie wound up back with Oklahoma.

“Brent Venables, his name speaks for itself. It truly does. He can go anywhere in the country any time, anywhere and ask for a job and he’s going to get hired. I promise you. Talking to him and with my family, you know, what he said to me and how he is, it meant a lot to me. He’s a relational guy. Most programs in the country are more so transactional and he wants to actually build a relationship with you. He’s a great guy, great human being. I want great people around me that love ball just like he does,” McKinzie said of Venables.

It’s clear Venables’ message is resonating with McKinzie, because it sounds eerily similar to what Venables had to say during his introductory ceremony inside the Everest Indoor Center.

“Everything that we do in our program, every decision that I have to make, that we have to make is going to be about what’s best for the players. Everything. If in fact the program is about the players, then every decision that we make is about what’s best for you. As I told them in the team meeting today, sometimes what’s best for the players, the players don’t like, but what we do is going to be in your best interest. The purpose of our program, we’re going to take a holistic approach. We’re going to find every way possible, every means possible to serve your heart and not your talent. That’s real. That’s relational, not transactional,” Venables said.

As of publication time, securing McKinzie’s commitment was part of helping OU leapfrog into the nation’s No. 9 recruiting class nationally according to 247Sports’ composite team rankings.

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