100 Days to Football Time in Oklahoma: #7 Jaren Kanak By: Ryan Lewis Posted on: August 26, 2023

Player Profile

Position: Linebacker

Height: 6’2″

Weight: 232

Class: Sophomore

Seasons at OU: 1

Hometown: Hayes, KS

Previous School: Hayes HS

The Path to Norman

Jaren Kanak, a highly-ranked recruit out of Kansas, was an athlete wanted by the top programs in the country. He visited Norman the summer before his signing day, but nothing seemed to come out of it. In December, when the new coaching staff arrived in Norman, Kanak and OU revisited. He had committed to Clemson, where Brent Venables had been the DC. Coach Venables had already committed to not going after Clemson 2022 recruits and stuck to his word. However, Kanak so badly wanted to play for Coach Venables that he went to Coach Swinney and explained the situation, who then contacted Coach Venables and encouraged him to allow the athlete to join the Sooners. Kanak flipped to OU and became a member of the 2022 class.

Career so Far

Kanak played in every game during his freshman season. He initially played at the CHEETAH spot, but was mostly at inside linebacker and special teams the rest of the season. While he was still learning the defense, he showed plenty of promise in 2022, particularly in the Nebraska game.

Stats

Year: 2022

Games Played: 13

Tackles: 24

TFL: 1

FF: 1

FR: 1

Stats via Soonersports.com

This Season

The inside linebacker spot is an extremely athletic and promising one in 2023. Danny Stutsman will start at one spot, with a battle at the other. Kanak is competing primarily with Kobie McKinzie and Konnor Near for the starting job. Whether Kanak starts for game one or not, he is an exceptional athlete and will be a much bigger part of the defense in year two than he was last season.