OU football: How Sooners' Danny Stutsman aims to balance intense play with goofy antics in year 2

During Danny Stutsman’s sophomore year of high school at Foundation Academy, he single-handedly made an opponent’s coach steer clear of scheduling a game against the Lions until he graduated.

The linebacker was so often in Lake Highland Prep’s backfield during a spring scrimmage in 2018 that the opposing players left the field scared.

“I remember (their) coach saying, ‘My kids had nightmares about Stutsman,’ said Brad Lord, Stutsman’s high school coach.

Stutsman dominated at Foundation Academy, a small, private Christian school in Winter Garden, Florida, that competes at the 2A level. He was so skilled beyond his competition that he played quarterback, receiver, running back and on defense during his time there.

He once hit an Orange View Christian player so hard that he picked the opponent up off the ground and patted him on the back because “he just knew he wasn’t as good as him,” according to Lord.

Last season, as a freshman linebacker at Oklahoma, Stutsman recorded 38 total tackles and two forced fumbles in 10 games, while displaying the same on-field tenacity he did in high school. Now a sophomore and with added responsibility in Brent Venables and Ted Roof’s defense, Stutsman is deploying that same energy ahead of the 2022 season.

On the field, Stutsman is a 6-foot-4, 238-pound colossus. Off it, he’s a goofy college student that enjoys making his teammates laugh, or getting the crowd going at OU basketball games. He has also become a Sooners faithful cult hero of sorts, with various Twitter accounts announcing themselves as different military ranks of “The Stutsman Army.”

With Danny, fans are going to receive big hits and intense play, but also memorable jokes. He is just “another guy,” his dad, Steve, said.

“Coach Venables says college is supposed to be fun,” Stutsman said. “It’s the best time of your life and I just want to do it. I’m not afraid to step out of my comfort zone.”

Last season, Stutsman used to change his Twitter profile picture to humorous photos of his teammates’ foreheads from warped angles. He once changed his avatar to former OU outside linebacker and now-Denver Broncos rookie Nik Bonitto, and all-called Sooner Nation to copy the picture to their own accounts.

Hours later, Stutsman started a trend as hundreds of fans followed him.

Everyone who makes it their profile picture gets a follow https://t.co/Be0AuhhKiQ

— DannyStutsman (@FbStutsman) October 19, 2021

For Steve, a Baylor tight end from 1987-91, seeing his son and sophomore defensive lineman Kelvin Gilliam, Stutsman’s roommate, having a blast as teammates brings back memories of his own playing days.

But strictly as Stutsman’s dad, he loves to see his son combat the pressures of Power Five football in an innocent and playful way.

“People deal with stress and things in different ways, and I think Danny deals with it with humor,” Steve said. “And that’s a release that doesn’t hurt anybody. Some people turn to substances, or food or something, but, at the end of the day, is it really wrong to have an outlet where you can make somebody laugh or maybe go on Twitter?”

The father-son duo sometimes have serious conversations — only when they’re not cracking jokes on Twitter Spaces, of course. 

The younger Stutsman’s foolery dates back to his time in high school, when he used to mess with his athletic gear or even misplace items as a prank.

“So I bought these soft helmets for the kids to play 7-on-7,” Lord said. “Well, Danny would put his on backward to look like a duck. His father and I play golf at the same country club, and Danny was in town and I was out of town. So, his dad had borrowed my clubs and all the clubs ended up in the wrong spots."

“When I came back, I had to reorganize my whole bag. And I still think (Danny) did it on purpose.”

Lord and Steve play golf almost every Friday back in Florida when they aren’t busy. They bonded through watching Stutsman plow through opposing blockers.

Lord, who watched Stutsman form a mold of his current stature throughout high school watched as he became more like Steve each day.

“That apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” Lord said.

Steve agrees.

“I think he gets it from me,” he said. “My personality (is) I like to make people laugh. Life is serious enough as it is, and you have to make light in certain situations.”

Like many student athletes in 2020, Stutsman felt the burdens of the COVID-19 pandemic. During his senior season, one of Foundation Academy’s opponents, Orlando Christian Prep, backed out of a game due to the coronavirus outbreak.

But Stutsman wanted to make the most of time, instead of the team spending its regularly-booked Friday nights at home. As the program’s group chat creator and team leader, he encouraged his teammates to meet at a local park to go over plays and get a practice in.

“He was like having a coach. He would back me up on that,” Lord said. “He’d say, ‘Hey guys, come spread out. Let's get out of the locker room. Get your stuff and put your shoulder pads and helmets on outside.’ And he was like having an assistant head coach, not just an assistant coach.”

Stutsman’s leadership has carried to the present, where he has taken four-star freshmen linebackers Jaren Kanak, Kip Lewis and Kobie McKinzie under his wing. Whether it was taking them out to dinner or referring to Kanak as “Ivan Drago” from Rocky IV, he tried to serve as the call point like his predecessors — Caleb Kelly, Brian Asamoah and Bonitto — did for him.

“Those are my three kids,” Stutsman said. “We’re all in the dorms and there’s not one day I’m not with them laughing. Kip will just be on my couch sleeping. It was 12 o’clock one night and I just came out and he was watching WWE. I said, ‘What are you doing Kip? Go to your room. This is my room.’”

Even with his relative youth on OU’s roster, Stutsman remains a mentor for younger players, which isn’t surprising to Lord — nor is the immediate success he had during his freshman season of 2021. Stutsman set the pace with a senior year of high school that included 78 tackles, five sacks and two interceptions, plus 1,000 yards and 17 touchdowns on offense.

“He was the best high school football player in all of Central Florida,” Lord said. “All-around player? Yeah, it was Danny Stutsman. Whether he was a three-star or what, it didn’t matter.”

During Foundation Academy’s regional championship win in 2020, Stutsman had 25 carries while playing every snap of the game. He later found out he cracked his shoulder in that game, but he still managed to compete in the state semifinals a few weeks later after padding up the injury.

“His favorite word is power,” Steve said. “He says, ‘I’ll just power through it,’ ‘this is hurting today’ or ‘this happened to me, but I gotta power through it.’”

Following Oklahoma’s regular season loss to Oklahoma State in Stillwater last season, Stutsman, Steve and then-linebackers coach Brian Odom gathered outside the team’s bus before heading home.

The trio, still disgruntled about the loss that held OU out of the Big 12 Championship Game for the first time since 2017, conversed about Stutsman’s future potential, with Odom expressing excitement about helping the young prospect improve.

But the next day, then-head coach Lincoln Riley notoriously left the program for Southern California, seemingly forcing Odom to join him to maintain job security.

Stutsman, who was primarily recruited by Odom out of high school, developed a strong relationship with the Oklahoma native that ultimately led to his decision to attend OU, according to Steve.

So when Stutsman heard the news, he had an initial reaction.

“Well, guess I’m going to USC,” Steve remembers Stutsman telling him.

But Steve told him to relax, wait and see what opportunity to stay in Norman might unfold. Steve speculated Venables, the former Sooners defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, might be Riley’s replacement. If so, a linebacker would be foolish to leave with Venables’ expertise in the position.

When Venables was officially announced as head coach Dec. 5, Stutsman confirmed he was staying in Norman a few hours later.

Staying home in Norman😈 #BoomerSooner pic.twitter.com/hefmKtLDJ7

— DannyStutsman (@FbStutsman) December 6, 2021

“As an 18-year-old, you can easily make a snap decision or snap judgment if you don’t gather the facts or let things unfold,” Steve said. “I’m glad he came to talk to me about that because he was open minded. … He could’ve easily gone to USC, but I’m one of those guys that looks at the facts. And at the end of the day, you’re still at the University of Oklahoma. That’s not a bad place to be no matter who’s there.”

Playing for Venables has been a dream come true for Stutsman, as he prepares for the upcoming season where he’ll likely start and be a heavy contributor.

Stutsman had some rapport with Venables as a high school recruit, after attending one of Clemson’s three-day camps where he worked closely with his now-head coach, who he feels blessed to be around.

“When he talks, you listen,” Stutsman said. “He has coached so many great guys and so many players and so many different positions. It’s mesmerizing. He has so much knowledge up there. Any word he says, you’re trying to write it down and keep track of it because no one else is going to be able to say what he can say.”

While remaining lighthearted on Twitter, Stutsman aims to take a leap forward in year two with a revamped defensive scheme under a new coaching staff. The goofy backer hopes to make back-breaking tackles while keeping the locker room laughing along the way.

“They always say you can’t coach speed,” Steve said. “Well you can’t coach the ability to have heart. ... (And that's) just his attitude.”