Texas offers former OU LB commit Kobie McKinzie

The Texas Longhorns are attempting to capitalize on the fallout from Lincoln Riley leaving the Oklahoma Sooners by offering Lubbock-Cooper linebacker Kobie McKinzie on Tuesday.

The first major turn in McKinzie’s recruitment took place when he committed to hometown Texas Tech in February 2019 only weeks after he picked up his offer from the Red Raiders. The Sooners offered him that spring and were able to get him on campus that July. A month later, he decommitted from Texas Tech and then pledged to Oklahoma in January 2020.

Other schools continued to pursue the 6’2, 245-pounder, with Florida State, Notre Dame, USC, and Arkansas all extending offers.

But nothing changed for McKinzie until Riley left Norman for Los Angeles on Sunday, prompting his second decommitment in the immediate aftermath.

Now McKinzie’s recruitment by the Longhorns may move quickly, as two 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions immediately came in for Texas as the offer went out.

Linebacker is a need position for Texas with only two commitments in the 2022 class and two recent departures for the NCAA transfer portal. The only major question with McKinzie is where he ends up playing if he commits to and signs with the Horns — high school recruits who arrive on campus at 245 pounds don’t tend to stick at inside linebacker in a conference like the Big 12. He does have some experience on the edge, too, making him more projectable there.

That’s a concern for the future, though. For now, it’s enough to know that he’s a consensus four-star prospect ranked as the No. 120 prospect nationally and the No. 11 linebacker, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, and would make an excellent addition to the 2022 recruiting class.