'East Texas Tough' Kip Lewis Continues to Fuel Oklahoma's Defense

NORMAN — The temperature might be in triple digits this week, but when Oklahoma heads inside the newly air conditioned Everest Indoor Training Center for practice, linebacker Kip Lewis isn’t going to be thrilled.

“Kip’s telling me he doesn’t want to ever go indoors,” Sooners coach Brent Venables said. “He wants to be outside. We need the heat and those types of things. That’s who Kip is East Texas tough.”

Lewis is the last player remaining at OU from Venables’ initial signing class.

He’s played in 44 games over the last four seasons, starting 30, with 209 tackles, five sacks and two interceptions — both returned for touchdowns.

But the hard-hitting Lewis is a bit of an enigmatic figure off the field.

“Kip kind of fancies himself a little bit of a nerd,” fellow linebacker Owen Heinecke said. “I spent a good amount of time at his house, and he’s got comic books and Legos and helmets — Star Wars helmets — and all that stuff just laying around. …

“But the guy you see on gameday, you would think is a serial killer and not a Star Wars fan.”

A switch flips for Lewis on game day, but even then, his approach is different.

“He’s maybe the most inspirational guy in all of college football with how much energy he brings,” inside linebackers coach Nate Dreiling said. “Watching him in pregame warmups, coach Venables last year was like, ‘I can’t stand watching this guy.’ I was like, ‘Don’t even look at him til kickoff coach. He’s gonna be fine.’

“He’s got his own stretch routine, but he cranks it up to a level that’s probably unmatched.”

Venables smiled when asked about his discomfort with Lewis’ pregame rituals.

“My problem with Kip is usually during the week,” Venables said, laughing. “But believe me, I love how he plays. The pregame stuff, I’m worried that he’s gonna blow a gasket and not make it to the fourth quarter. He likes to run around when we’re trying to get the next call in. He’s going to have to do that a little more this year. But I love his passion, his energy. Everybody (does). It’s infectious.

“I think he endears himself to people that love Oklahoma football because he plays with so much energy and passion. It’s incredibly consistent. So it’s not conditional on who we’re playing, where we’re playing. That’s who he is.”

Lewis has been that way since he arrived in the wake of Venables taking over the Sooners.

That signing class had building blocks for the surge in Oklahoma’s defense, including R Mason Thomas, Robert Spears-Jennings, Gracen Halton and Kobie McKinzie, but Lewis was different.

“We talk about elevating a lot in our building, and Kip has elevated everyone, even as a young freshman who was really noticeable,” Venables said. “John (Mateer) picked him as the guy that he’d want in a street fight, a dark alley, or a fist fight, whatever it was it’s going to be Kip Lewis because of gameday Kip. He’s left a big impression on everybody and is going to be his best this year.”

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