Oklahoma DL Jacob Lacey confirms he's medically retiring

After a single season in the crimson and cream, defensive tackle Jacob Lacey is retiring from football due to repeated blood-clotting issues that led to a pair of pulmonary embolisms.

The 6-foot-1, 282-pound Notre Dame transfer appeared in all 13 games for Oklahoma this past season, making 12 starts. He finished the season with 17 tackles and a sack, in addition to a fumble recovery. In a Wednesday appearance on the Oklahoma Breakdown podcast, Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables publicly disclosed that Lacey was unlikely to continue playing, and Lacey himself confirmed the news in a Thursday morning tweet.

While at Clemson, Oklahoma defensive tackles coach Todd Bates had pursued Lacey heavily out of high school, but the former four-star recruit eventually elected to sign with the Fighting Irish. He spent four seasons in South Bend before entering the transfer portal in October 2022, and after a brief flirtation with Kentucky, Lacey announced his pledge to the Sooners on Christmas Day. The battle with blood clots cost Lacey valuable practice time in the offseason, but he broke camp as a co-starter nonetheless. By the second game of the season, he'd created enough separation from Jordan Kelley to earn a full-time starting job.

Lacey had been expected to contend for starting duty once again in 2024, but his departure will increase the scrutiny on prized freshmen David Stone and Jayden Jackson. Stone signed with the Sooners in December as the No. 1 defensive player in the nation, while Jackson ranked 10th nationally among defensive tackles and picked Oklahoma over Ohio State, Texas and Florida. Both players are expected to contend for significant snaps.

With Lacey's retirement, the Sooners are down to seven scholarship defensive tackles. Sixth-year senior Da'Jon Terry will reprise his starting role this fall, while Stone and Jackson will vie for playing time with senior Davon Sears, junior Gracen Halton, and inexperienced redshirt freshmen Ashton Sanders and Markus Strong.

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