100 Days to Football Time in Oklahoma 2024: #7 Jaren Kanak By: Ryan Lewis Posted on: August 23, 2024

Player Profile

Position: Linebacker

Height: 6’2”

Weight: 223

Class: Junior

Seasons at OU: 2

Hometown: Hays, Kan.

Previous School: Hays 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.

In his sophomore season, Kanak once again played in all 13 games, starting in nine of them. He played a lot of snaps, finishing fourth on the team in tackles, but struggled at the tail end of the season and transitioning to a backup role over the final four games.

Stats

Years: 2023 | 2022 | Career

Games Played: 13 | 13 | 26

Tackles: 62 | 24 | 86

TFL: 6 | 1 | 7

Sacks: 2 | 0 | 2

FF: 1 | 1 | 2

FR: 0 | 1 | 1

PBU: 2 | 0 | 2

Stats via Soonersports.com

This Season

The competition at linebacker is as fierce as it has been in some time. In year three with the Sooners, Kanak has plenty of experience. However, other linebackers like Kip Lewis, Lewis Carter, and Kobie McKinzie are going to be hard to keep off the field. The time is now for Kanak to make a jump if he is to maintain a large role on defense this season.