100 Days to Football Time in Oklahoma: #11 Nik Bonitto By: Ryan Lewis Posted on: August 24, 2021

The Path to Norman

Bonitto’s recruitment was relatively slow for a long time. His athleticism is something that caught the eye of many; in fact, Bonitto had several D1 basketball offers to go with his football offers. Finally, the December before his signing day, Coach Mike Stoops had an in-home visit with the Florida prospect. That visit ended up having a big impact on the linebacker. For a while, it looked like he would announce in December. However, a battle between Louisville, Texas, and Oklahoma had him push the commitment back. At the Under Armour All-American game in January, he announced that he would join the Sooners.

Career So Far

Bonitto was valuable to the Sooners before he ever played a down. As part of the Florida pipeline, his interest in Oklahoma can help spark the same in others. His former teammate at St. Thomas Aquinas High School, CB Jaden Davis, is now a Sooner himself.

When the 2018 season arrived, Bonitto was able to utilize the new redshirt rule. He appeared in three games, recording three tackles.

The RUSH position was a tough position battle in 2019. Jon-Michael Terry won the starting job in fall camp, but unfortunately suffered a season-ending injury. Following the injury, Bonitto and David Ugwoegbu split snaps at RUSH. Bonitto played in all 14 games, starting in the final eight and finishing sixth on the team in tackles. His biggest play of the year and one of the biggest for the Sooners was the game-ending interception against Baylor.

In 2020, Bonitto had a true breakout season. He manned the rush position, starting in all games but one (Nik missed the Baylor game). Bonitto ranked second on the team in TFL and sacks in a season that saw him earn First-Team All-American honors from PFF and second-team from AP. The edge rusher finished the season with the 3rd-most sacks by a LB in a season in OU history and the 6th-most sacks by an OU LB over a career. In a season of significant defensive improvement for the entire team, Bonitto was excellent.

Current Profile

Position: RUSH LB

Height: 6’3”

Weight: 240

Year: Redshirt Junior

Stats

Stats via Soonersports.com

Highlights

This Season

Nik Bonitto is generating a lot of buzz ahead of the 2021 season. He has been named to several preseason All-American lists and named the best returning DL by PFF.

Oklahoma’s front seven looks to be the best it has fielded in quite a few years, in no small part due to Bonitto. He will once again start at RUSH, with a group including Marcus Stripling and Clayton Smith backing him up. In what is likely to be his last season in Norman, Bonitto has the chance to go out as one of the best players in college football in 2021.