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Oklahoma LB Danny Stutsman's Path to Butkus Award Includes Fewer Snaps, More Leadership

The Sooners' defensive leader found himself on the preseason watch list for the top linebacker award.

John E. Hoover

Oklahoma LB Danny Stutsman's Path to Butkus Award Includes Fewer Snaps, More Leadership
Oklahoma LB Danny Stutsman's Path to Butkus Award Includes Fewer Snaps, More Leadership /
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Not that Danny Stutsman doesn’t want to lead the Big 12 or rank among the nation’s top tacklers. Any linebacker would.

But ideally, Stutsman could have used a break in 2022.

“Where I'm from, back in Florida, I'm used to playing every single down,” Stutsman said, “but I gotta admit, sometimes later in the games, that kind of hurt us.”

Still, it’s Stutsman’s sheer volume from last year — 125 tackles — that put him among the 51 linebackers on this year’s preseason watch list for the Butkus Award.

Stutsman is one of four linebackers from the Big 12 on the list, joining BYU's Ben Bywater, Texas' Jaylan Ford and UCF's Jason Johnson. The Butkus goes to college football’s top linebacker, and Stutsman has a path to become the Sooners’ fifth winner of the prestigious trophy.

Brian Bosworth won the first two Butkus Awards in 1985 and 1986. Rocky Calmus took home the trophy in 2001, and Teddy Lehman was the recipient in 2003.

Stutsman, a former 4-star recruit, had 10.5 tackles for loss among his 125 total stops last year, including three sacks, two interceptions and five passes defensed during his sophomore season.

Now a junior, the 6-foot-4, 241-pound Windermere, FL, native would probably need big numbers like that again to bring OU another Butkus, but he would rather put up team success over individual accolades.

That means more third-down stops, which means fewer opportunities to rack up tackle numbers. It also means the Sooners’ linebacker depth is better this year, so Stutsman ideally won’t have to play 1,000 snaps like he did last year. The plan is for Stutsman to get more breaks so he can be fresher in the fourth quarter.

“That can't be an excuse, and it's not,” Stutsman said, “but having a player to come in and take some reps, it does help … the longevity of games. You know, gain that breather so you're fresher in the fourth quarter. It does matter.”

“We definitely have more guys," head coach Brent Venables said. That’s really one of the things that I’ve challenged because we’re rotating and have guys in different packages with different groups. We didn’t have the ability to do that a year ago in any way, shape or form. Some guys, they like their reps. They’re used to their reps and now their reps are split up. I like that they don’t like it.

Stutsman matured into the role of OU’s defensive leader over the course of the 2022 season, showing marked improvement from the opening game through November and into the bowl game.

Now with a full year under his belt, he doesn’t need all those extra snaps to prove he’s a better player. Everyone proclaims Stutsman a more forceful leader now, and he’s the face of the OU defense.

It’s a role that’s reserved for and embraced by players who find themselves on preseason watch lists. Being a leader is more than just piling up big numbers. It also entails passing on one’s knowledge to the next generation.

“Now that it's my time to step into that role,” he said, “I already know so much that I can teach on to them and kind of be a good example for what the standard is so they can pass on when I'm gone.”

The Butkus Award is the latest of 16 watch lists this preseason to be revealed by the National College Football Awards Association.

For the first time in 2023, the NCFAA will package and brand national players of the week as 12 awards are set to unveil weekly honors each Tuesday this season. The first announcements will come on Wednesday, Sept. 6.

The NCFAA's annual showcase, The Home Depot College Football Awards, will air live on ESPN in early December with the exact date to be announced shortly.

The preseason watch lists for 2023 with OU players who have been nominated:

NCFAA Watch Lists

  • Mon., July 31: Maxwell Award (top player; Dillon Gabriel)
  • Tue., Aug 1: Outland Trophy (top lineman) and Bronko Nagurski Trophy (defensive player; Danny Stutsman)
  • Wed., Aug. 2: Lou Groza Award (kicker) and Ray Guy Award (punter; Luke Elzinga)
  • Thu., Aug. 3: Paul Hornung Award (all-purpose) and Wuerffel Trophy (citizenship; Ethan Downs)
  • Fri., Aug. 4: Mackey Award (tight end; Austin Stogner) and Rimington Trophy (center)
  • Mon., Aug. 7: Biletnikoff Award (receiver)
  • Tue., Aug. 8: Davey O'Brien Award (quarterback; Dillon Gabriel)
  • Wed., Aug. 9: Doak Walker Award (running back; Jovantae Barnes)
  • Thu., Aug. 10: Butkus Award (linebacker) and Jim Thorpe Award (defensive back)
  • Fri., Aug. 11: Walter Camp Award (top player)
  • Mon., Aug. 14: Bednarik Award (defensive player)
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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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