Why 4-Star DB Makari Vickers Says Oklahoma's Season 'Definitely Lights a Fire In Me'

The Tallahassee product will sign with OU on Wednesday, eager to do what he can to "silence all the haters and all the doubters" about Brent Venables.

That Oklahoma is wrapping up its worst season in almost 25 years may be deterrent to some recruits.

To others, it’s incentive.

Makari Vickers, for example, sees opportunity ahead. The Sooners head to the Cheez-It Bowl to play Florida State on Dec. 29 with a 6-6 record. It’s a testament to OU’s startling inconsistency this year.

Vickers — who will officially sign with Oklahoma on Wednesday, the first day of the early signing period — is among OU’s class of 2023 who believe they can come in and turn this thing around immediately.

“It definitely does light a fire under me,” Vickers told AllSooners. “Because … a lot of games were lost on a couple possessions where, you know, somebody missed an assignment or something. So I feel like when our class comes in … we're definitely excited for sure to get to work and meet the guys and learn the system and pretty much just change the whole outlook on the program.”

OU’s class currently ranks No. 8 nationally, according to the 247 Sports team rankings. That ranking could climb into the top five if the Sooners land two or three more targets this week.

Recruiting rankings can be misleading, but college football teams generally don’t win at a high rate without top-five classes.

“I’m definitely excited,” Vickers said. “Coming in with this good class that we have, coming in with guys like Jackson Arnold, Hollywood Smothers, all these transfers we got coming in. I’m definitely excited.”

Vickers is a 6-foot-1, 180-pound defensive back from Munroe Day School in Tallahassee, FL. A 4-star prospect, he’s the No. 6 safety in the nation and the No. 89 overall recruit, per 247 Sports. He chose OU over Alabama and Michigan.

Vickers prefers cornerback but has more experience at safety. He’s the kind of physical DB that Brent Venables seeks out.

“I’m a bigger, physical guy,” Vickers said. “So I like to get my hands on and kind of deter the route, deter the wide receivers’ route before they actually start running it. If you press and get a good enough jam, you can pretty much take them out of the equation before they even start the route. So I definitely like how physical and aggressive I can be at corner.”

Vickers graduated from high school last week and will attend classes at OU in January. He’ll get a chance to put his lockdown skills on display — that’s how he got the nickname “Seatbelt” — when spring practice begins.

Vickers can’t wait to get to work and contribute what he can because he’s eager to show 2022 is an anomaly. He wants to show everyone that Venables is the right man for the job.

“Because a lot of people are already doubting, even though it's just his first year, they already got in that ‘How valid was coach Venables for the job,’ “ he said. “So it definitely does light a fire in me to pretty much silence all the haters and all the doubters and stuff.”

Vickers first met Venables via video call while he was visiting with OU corners coach Jay Valai. Vickers and Valai had a relationship from when Valai was the cornerbacks coach at Alabama, and Valai called to offer him a scholarship from Oklahoma.

“He was definitely a big factor,” Vickers said. “Because he was recruiting me heavily at Alabama. We had a pretty solid relationship at Alabama. But when he transferred to Oklahoma, our relationship kind of — it just kind of expanded and grew as days passed. Because at Alabama, he was a little more laid back. But at Oklahoma, he kind of showed a little bit more of his personality. He's a really funny guy. Really energetic guy, his energy is infectious. So who want to be coached by that?”

Vickers said he was strongly considering Alabama because of Valai.

“I was definitely excited because I was locked in with Coach Valai when he was at Alabama,” Vickers said. “And I've always heard that Oklahoma was one of the most winningest programs in all of college football. So when Coach Valai went up there — and I know his defensive mind, along with Coach Venables — I knew that they would change the defensive culture up there at Oklahoma. So when he extended the offer, it definitely got me excited and fired up.

“So it was actually gonna be Alabama at first. But when we started making our rounds as far as visits and things of that nature, Oklahoma grew on me. Because you can tell that they — coach Venables and his staff — were changing the culture there. You know, I’m a defensive player. Oklahoma was always known for the offense, but the defense is kind of a little edgy at times. So you know, with him bringing in his defensive mindset, it’ll definitely change a lot of things around for that defense.”

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