An Unforgettable Star in an Unnerving Time, Oklahoma LB Danny Stutsman Enters Final Year

Danny Stutsman's unconquerable personality has made his Sooners teammates better during Venables' defensive renovations and a world-shattering conference move.

Oklahoma Sooners linebacker Danny Stutsman (28) celebrates with the Golden Hat Trophy after the Red River Rivalry college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the University of Texas (UT) Longhorns at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. Oklahoma won 34-30. / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

NORMAN — Danny Stutsman, the part-entertainer, all football player whose expressive play has ignited his team and the Oklahoma Sooners' crowd at crucial moments, recounted Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables’ locker room speech after a 51-48 overtime loss in Lubbock.

“I think it was Texas Tech two years ago, [Venables] said ‘Rome wasn't built in a day’ and here were are two years later,” the Sooners starting linebacker and team captain told media Monday, four days out from the home opener of the most ambitious season in program history. “The pieces are finally coming together.”

Perhaps the Sooners’ best returning player and man of the hour at any team press conference excluding Venables, Stutsman didn't build his career one day, either. The pieces of Venables’ defense, especially the 6-foot-4, 243-pound senior from Windermere, FL, are now the team's strength, which hasn't been the status quo at OU over the past decade.

“I'm really excited with the foundation that we've built,” Stutsman said.

The Sooners embark on their inaugural season in the Southeastern Conference that has become the most competitive league in modern college football history with Friday’s 6 p.m. kickoff against Temple. The other side of the table, which includes preseason No. 4, 5, 6, 11, 13 and 15, could see Stutsman’s name etched among the all-time greats of one of the sport’s most storied programs.

“I’m always up for a challenge,” The Athletic’s Jason Kersey quoted a 17-year-old Stutsman in 2021. “I still have a lot to prove. I’m a kid from a small private school who is unproven as of now. I’m working out six days a week right now, and now that I’ve committed to Oklahoma, I need to prove more than ever that I belong there.”

Destined for a Division I athletic career, Stutsman is son to a Baylor football and a Baylor basketball player and brother to a Florida State softball player. 247Sports rated Stutsman a 4-star prospect out of Foundation Academy (FL); ESPN and Rivals, a 3-star. Stutsman was the sixth-ranked defensive player in his class. He picked OU over Texas A&M, Baylor and others.

Other program greats of the caliber to which Stutsman aspires, like Lee Roy Selmon, Roy Williams and his paragon, Brian Bosworth, were heralded as more promising recruits.

Twenty-one-year-old Stutsman became a preseason All-American and All-SEC pick and aims to see both come to fruition before his 22nd birthday. In the most prolific era of college athletics transfers, he spent what will be four years in Norman, each year expanding the population of football fans that knows his name.

Remember that he is only one-third personality (Right?) and is a unique talent at the position. Implications pertaining to Stutsman’s professional future are equally persistent to his legacy in Norman this year. He is projected to go late in the first round in some recent mock drafts, but the potential to enrich his professional career by improving to a higher sport lie in cities like Dallas, Oxford, Columbia and Baton Rouge.

“I remember freshman year. You tell all the young guys — they don't believe you. I didn't, but your time has come,” Stutsman said. “It's a little sad, but I'm happy to be with the guys that I came here with: Billy [Bowman], Ethan [Downs] and Jalil [Farooq].”

Farooq spoke to the dedication of himself, Stutsman, Downs and Bowman to Venables' process after an anticlimactic 38-24 loss to No. 14 Arizona in the Alamo Bowl eight months ago: “I definitely feel like we’ll be the four leaders coming back next year. ... From that class, the people that stayed, they’ve been loyal. We bleed OU."

“We've got a group of guys and several guys that have played a lot of football for us. And so the expectation is we're going to take the next step,” Venables said Monday. “This is a group of guys, they want it bad. They're, again, incredibly invested. Our leaders, great, great leadership. Again, Woodi [Washington] and Billy and Danny, Ethan, those guys in particular that have been here for four-plus years.”

Bowman, Oklahoma’s other awardee on both lists, has been chipping away at his legacy at the same time. His crucial playmaking, especially against Texas, has guaranteed him admiration from the OU faithful ahead of the 2024 season. Washington is one of the conference's best defensive backs if you ask anybody in Norman, starting with Venables. Downs has twice made All-Big 12 lists and more times produced momentum-breaking plays.

That and their charisma, both on the field and in the media, scratches the same itch it does for Oklahoma City Thunder fans. Stutsman is the gravitas. He sharesThe Podcast on the Prairie with Jaren Kanak, where they host teammates and talk about beating Texas, Brayden Willis playing in the Super Bowl, ending their losing streak and more.  During a recent episode of The Franchise Morning Show, Stutsman shared his and Bowman’s collaborative “Stutsman-Bowman ‘24” merchandise drop.

“It was my idea, kind of come up with a little somethin’ — you know — he [Bowman] has a wedding and all that coming up, so hopefully we, you know, kind of raised a little money for that,” Stutsman said.

Stutsman's dedication to the process, talent and unconquerable personality made him Oklahoma’s most popular player.

“I'm just excited for one last ride,” Stutsman said.