Oklahoma Freshman Danny Stutsman Already Impressing His Coaches and Teammates

Despite arriving in June, Stutsman has shown he's athletic, strong, mentally tuned in and has the kind of competitive attitude that coaches love.

NORMAN — Danny Stutsman already has a reputation among his Oklahoma teammates.

Stutsman is the guy — that guy, some say — who demands of himself that he win every conditioning sprint, or at least try.

It’s a unique quality, and maybe sort of rare. Adrian Peterson used to do the same thing. Maybe it's no coincidence that Stutsman wears the same number, 28 as Peterson.

Sorry haters. Run faster.

“Wasn’t with us in the spring,” said defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, “but comes in and (bench presses) 225 (pounds) 20 times as a freshman walking through the door and is just gonna win every sprint through the portion of summer conditioning, just as a competitor.”

Stutsman arrived in Norman in June. As Grinch said, he wasn’t enrolled early. He didn’t participate in spring practice. He’s right out of high school.

And the 6-foot-3, 229-pound linebacker from Windermere, FL, starts his first college training camp this weekend looking advanced for his age.

“He’s a really good player,” said tight end Austin Stogner.

Stutsman is more than that. Even though almost a dozen Sooner freshmen did show up last semester and poured themselves into Bennie Wylie’s grinding winter workouts and grew up in Lincoln Riley’s spring practice, it’s Stutsman, the newcomer, who’s quickly becoming sort of the face of the OU class of 2021.

Stutsman has already gained the respect of his older teammates.

“Danny came into the program and he saw his job, and that’s coming in and learning from the other guys,” said junior linebacker Brian Asamoah. “He’s done a good job learning the playbook … coming in ready to learn, that just makes a guy like me, who’s a leader, very excited to just help him out with the questions he has. He’s never afraid to ask questions.”

Even the oldest, most experienced Sooner defenders have gained a special admiration for Stutsman in the early stages of training camp.

“Stutsman is so funny, too,” said sixth-year senior Caleb Kelly. “We’ve spent a lot of time together with our linebacker group. So I’ve gotten to talk to him a lot and hang out with him a lot.”

And while it seems Stutsman has an engaging personality around his new friends in social settings, he seems to be fitting in quite well among his new teammates on the field, too.

“He’s definitely one those guys guys that surprises you with how athletic he is,” Kelly said. “Because you look at him and he’s pretty stocky and pretty built already, and you’re like, ‘Oh, he might be a little bit stiff.’ But then he goes out there and he has a bunch of PBUs in 7 on 7. He had a pick six too, making a bunch of plays. It’s just that athleticism they’re going after. He’s a guy that did surprise me. I was like, ‘He’s a big dude, he might be kind of stiff,’ but he went out there and made some plays for sure.

“Yeah, that’s a guy to watch out for.”

And Stutsman doesn’t bring just athletic ability. For a freshman, his teammates are impressed with how mentally ready he is to take on Grinch’s playbook.

“He gets the football aspect,” Asamoah said. “He’s done a good job just understanding where we’re trying to go as a defense.

“You guys will see him too.”

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