NORMAN — There was a time when Lincoln Riley thought Nik Bonitto might not be long for his program.
“When we parted ways with Mike (Stoops), that was really hard on him because he was very close with Mike. That’s who recruited him,” Riley said. “Just kind of got off to a rough start. Nothing egregiously bad, just kind of had a rough start and kind of like a lot of guys, kind of questioned, ‘Is this the right place? Am I in the right position? Did I make the right decision?'”
But a little more than a year after Stoops’ departure, the redshirt freshman linebacker has seen his role continue to expand.