Oklahoma P Michael Turk Thrilled to be a Sooner After Unorthodox Path to Norman

Turk transferred in to Oklahoma from Arizona State just over three weeks before the start of the 2021 season.

Oklahoma fans probably don’t know a whole lot about punter Michael Turk given, well, he plays a specialist position and didn’t even become a Sooner until just a hair over three weeks before the opener against Tulane.

But his journey is certainly one worth learning, as his path to becoming a key piece to the national-title-hopeful Sooners is one unique to him.

For starters, despite coming from a family with a deeply rich punting history, Turk never punted in high school. He didn’t pick up the skill until he was in the midst of a gap year between high school and college as he looked for any way to possibly have a shot of playing collegiate football.

“I didn’t punt in high school so I had to take a gap year originally,” Turk said. “My uncle and my brother have really been a blessing helping me learn how to punt and I took a gap year with Ben (Turk’s brother) in Dallas. He punted at Notre Dame so he helped me a lot so I got a scholarship offer to Lafayette College just off of a YouTube film of me punting. Had a good year there, transferred to ASU (Arizona State) and obviously that was a blessing, had a great time there.”

Michael Turk / Michael Chow

Despite having a long-time NFL punter for an uncle and a brother who punted for a major program in Notre Dame, Turk was determined to make it at the next level as a safety. But, injuries ended up derailing those aspirations.

“I guess I wanted to play football,” Turk said on why he chose to play a position other than punter in high school. “Of course, punter counts as football, but I wanted to hit people and try, so I played safety. I played a lot of sports growing up and thankfully was blessed being athletic. And then in high school, I had three ACL surgeries, though, so I actually didn’t really get to play at all in high school. It was a big doozy. I didn’t, obviously, get to play that much with those injuries but toward the end of my senior year, I was like, ‘Man, I still really want to play college football but I have no film of me playing safety really and how am I going to do this?’ So I was like, ‘Well, my uncle punted in the NFL for 19 years, my brother punted at Notre Dame, maybe I can give it a try.’ That’s when my brother offered for me to live with him for a gap year, and so every day I punted—some punting coaches would probably say too much.

“Sometimes I’d punt with my brother in the morning then Uber back to the field and then punt again for hours on end. I started to love it. It was a grind because at first, I couldn’t really be very consistent or have a big leg but the more I worked at it, the more I thought there was a future with it, and I just kept getting after it.”

After latching on with the Sun Devils, Turk elected to hit the transfer portal as a graduate transfer due in large part to Arizona State’s requirement that the entire team receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

“I mean, I’m sure you all can look online and everyone has their own view on this, but yeah, that was their protocol at ASU and it was in my judgment just to enter the transfer portal after that and thankfully a spot arose here, like I said, at OU,” Turk said. “It is what it is, I’m thankful everything worked out and what you said too, how COVID has helped some people get some years of eligibility back, one of my favorite Bible verses, Romans 8:28 says, ‘And we know that all things work together for the good to those who love the Lord, to those who are called according to his purpose,” so that’s just how I live my life. No matter what happens, I know it’s going to turn for my good.

“I’ve just got to keep the faith and work hard, and so I’m glad after it’s all said and done I’m here at OU.”

Michael Turk :: John E. Hoover / SI Sooners

When Turk made the decision to finish out his college football career at a place other than Arizona State, he was thrilled at the opportunity to come to Oklahoma. In his mind, the ability to be a Sooner and play for a true contender was an easy call to make.

“When I talked to some other schools – thankfully there were some good opportunities that arose – I thank God for that because it was pretty late in the transfer process,” Turk said. “Once I had an opportunity from OU and got to talk to Coach Riley, to be honest there was no deterrent. Why would I not want to join an elite program and the coaches were super nice. I didn’t even have to visit. I knew all about OU. My brother played at Notre Dame and he played at a lot of different stadiums and he said the most fun game that he had was playing at OU. It was super loud.

“It was a no-brainer once I talked to Coach Riley because of how nice he was. Lord willing, I want to be on a team where I can contend for a national championship.”

After not punting in the season opener against Tulane, Turk has booted eight punts at an average of 46.5 yards per kick including a 57-yarder in the win over Western Carolina and five that have pinned the opposing offense inside the 20-yard line.

When pairing Turk with the exploits of kicker sensation Gabe Brkic, it looks as if Oklahoma has as strong of a kicker/punter combination as any in the country.

“Gabe, I love him,” Turk said. “We’re good friends. He’s a super nice guy and fun to be around. With kickers – and I guess with punters too – some guys are super serious and they are very mechanical about everything. There are some guys who also work on their craft hard and they are laid back. Gabe is the type of guy, when the game’s on the line, you want him. He just knows how to get after it regardless. You can tell when kickers and punters are just having fun and really good at what they do.”

Turk, Brkic and the rest of the Sooners will hit the road on Saturday for their first road contest of the year against Kansas State at 2:30 p.m. in Manhattan, KS. 

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