Who Might Return Kickoffs for Oklahoma in 2026?

NORMAN — In a year where Oklahoma made great leaps in several areas, the Sooners’ kickoff return game never got going in 2025.

The Sooners fielded only two kickoffs last year. Safety Peyton Bowen returned one for 15 yards, while running back Jaydn Ott returned one for only one yard.

On every other kickoff — aside from a few onside kicks — the Sooners let the ball sail into the end zone and started their drives at the 25-yard line.

OU’s offense sputtered in the back half of the 2025 season. But with better field position, the Sooners likely would have turned several empty drives into scoring drives.

The Sooners’ offense should be more cohesive in 2026, and special teams coordinator Doug Deakin wants the kick-return unit to aid its success.

“The benefit of the kickoff return is giving your offense better than the 25-yard line,” Deakin said. “And in our two kick attempts, we did not. So ultimately, we didn't return a bunch last year.”

The question now becomes, “who will be the kick returner in 2026?”

And the Sooners could go in many different ways.

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One of the names that Deakin mentioned is wide receiver Isaiah Sategna. Sategna, who transferred to OU ahead of the 2025 season, returned 24 punts for 318 yards last year, and his longest return went for 43 yards.

Lloyd Avant, a transfer running back, is another option. As a true freshman at Tulsa in 2024, Avant returned 14 kickoffs for 392 yards and a touchdown. He spent the 2025 season at Colorado State, fielding 11 kicks for 268 yards.

Bowen, who will be a senior, could also be in the mix. His only kickoff return at the college level came last year, but he returned 26 punts for 229 yards during the previous two seasons.

Running back Tory Blaylock was also listed on OU’s Week 1 depth chart at kick returner last year, but he didn’t return any kickoffs during his true freshman season. OU coach Brent Venables also revealed last week that Blaylock will miss the spring, due to an undisclosed injury.

In addition to those four possible return men, Deakin said that some of the younger players on the roster could compete for snaps.

“Ultimately, in that locker room, we have a plethora of playmakers,” Deakin said.

As a whole, Oklahoma’s special-teams unit is in a good place.

Kicker Tate Sandell won the Lou Groza Award — given to college football’s most outstanding kicker — in 2025, and he will hold down the Sooners’ placekicking duties again in 2026.

At punter, Grayson Miller was a First Team All-SEC selection last year, though Deakin said that Miller is in an open competition with Jacob Ulrich for the starting spot.

Sategna will presumably return punts once again in 2026 after he did an admirable job at the position a year ago.

Kickoff return is the Sooners’ biggest special-teams question mark — but they have plenty of time to figure it out.

“We'll definitely be practicing it here in spring ball and into fall camp to utilize during this up and coming season,” Deakin said.