Turkey Day tradition
Throughout his collegiate career as an Oklahoma Sooner, linebacker Ogbonnia Okoronkwo has always shared a Thanksgiving meal with his coach, Tim Kish.
NORMAN — When Ogbonnia Okoronkwo heard his phone ring and saw Tim Kish’s name pop up Monday night, he wasn’t worried at all.
“When people see their coach calling them at night they usually get scared,” he said. “I knew it was something good.” And it was.
OU’s linebackers coach was calling to invite Okoronkwo over for a Thanksgiving meal, extending a tradition they’ve shared throughout Okoronkwo’s fiveyear career at OU.
“His wife makes some killer banana pudding,” Okoronkwo said with a smile. “That’s why I’m coming.”
On a day when many express gratitude for their blessings, Okoronwko will be sharing a meal with one of his.
The two have come a long way since Kish first spotted the defensive end/linebacker at Alief Taylor high school outside of Houston, and with Okoronkwo’s senior day coming up against West Virginia on Saturday (2:45 p.m., ESPN), this Thanksgiving will likely be the last they share together.
“Honestly, coming in I didn’t have a lot of structure,” Okoronkwo said. “I was all over the place. A lot of people, especially coach Kish, were very patient with me. They didn’t give up on me, they knew I was a little behind in some areas and they just stuck with me. They wanted to let me grow.”
Okoronkwo’s transformation on the field has been well-documented.
In the last two seasons, he’s transformed from a background guy to the face of the OU defense. He’s been a consistent threat in the pass rush, racking up eight sacks and six quarterback hurries this season.
Kish noticed the seismic shift in his player during spring practice of Okoronkwo’s redshirt sophomore year.
The undisciplined, inconsistent player who arrived in Norman in 2013 was gone, replaced with someone who was
determined to be better.
“The key word with him was patience,” Kish said. “We needed to make sure we took it one step at a time. Once a light turned on, it took a couple years to get to that point, but once it turned on, then it never turned off.”
Not only did things click for Okoronkwo on the field, but the relationship with Kish also helped Okoronkwo grow off it.
“That’s part of our responsibility as a coach,” Kish said. “It’s not just the development of him as a football player, it’s really the development of him as a young adult. It’s not all 24/7 football talk. We talk about those things and the responsibility that you have. You’re under the microscope here with the community.
“It was a thing that he didn’t understand in the beginning and then all of a sudden, it clicked. Now he services so many different people and different organizations.”
As a young player on the team, Okoronkwo missed class and left towels on the floor of the locker room, expecting someone else to pick them up.
Now, as a redshirt senior, he’s reversed his role, telling the younger players to clean up and go to class.
“He was the one leaving the towel on the floor in the beginning of the whole process, not understanding responsibility and what all that meant,” Kish said. “But he’s such a good leader and such a good young man. The things he’s done off the field are as impressive, now to me, as the things he’s done on the field. It’s really fun to see him develop as a leader because he certainly was a follower for a long, long time.”