Brent Venables' Heart to Heart With Oklahoma LB Danny Stutsman Led to Breakthrough
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NORMAN — Sometimes, it’s easy to tell when a true freshman has that “it” factor. That was the case with Danny Stutsman a season ago.
It’s rare for someone so young to burst onto the scene in year one, but Stutsman appeared in 10 games and was one of the biggest reasons for excitement on Oklahoma’s defense. He totaled 38 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, a sack and two forced fumbles.
When Brent Venables was hired, Stutsman was an obvious choice for a potential budding star. The combination of the linebacker’s skill and Venables’ knack for getting the most out of his players surely seems like a match made in Heaven.
“Danny has had tremendous growth,” Venables said. “I think he’s matured as much as I’ve seen anything.”
Even though Stutsman is the prototypical hard-hitting, Venables-molded linebacker, he’s had to trust his new head coach to help him take the next step. Venables clearly understands what it takes to play defense at the next level, and with attention to detail and commitment, there’s a reason he singled out Stutsman at the beginning of the offseason.
“He, his dad and I were talking after the game, and we talked about a conversation Danny and I had sometime in February,” Venables recalled. “It was just he and I in the hallway somewhere. I asked him, ‘Are you ever going to watch tape? Are you ever going to come ask for a playbook? Do you want to be a good player?’
We had one of those talks because I know Danny is a guy who has tremendous instincts. He’s a really good football player. But In order to tap into that potential and really realize it, there’s a lot of work that goes on beyond what’s required. To me, he was a guy that had relied on instincts and toughness and the love to play and play pretty good.”
This could be the difference between Stutsman and other young players with potential. Venables sees his talent, toughness and genuine love for the game of football. Those are three things you simply can’t coach, and Stutsman is in possession of all three. The next piece of the puzzle is preparation and attention to detail, and he has the best teacher he could ask for.
“We challenged him to being a leader and take control of his career,” Venables said. “You have a small window. That hourglass is flipped all the way over. You’re on the clock. You can’t get back these days. New staff, system, language, when are you going to learn it? You gonna try to be a person of excellence? Or just get by on talent?”
Those seem like strong words from the first-year head coach, and words that seem to truly believe in Stutsman’s potential. Outside of Kenneth Murray, Oklahoma linebackers haven’t had much luck in the NFL Draft over the past few seasons. With a defensive-minded staff, that’s likely to change and Stutsman could be the one leading the charge.
The hard, personal conversations are usually the ones that lead to the most growth in nearly all aspects of life. For Stutsman, his February conversation with Venables was a light-bulb moment. Not only could his talent take him far, but he realized the trust placed on his shoulders in the middle of the defense.
“Last year I had a role, but this year I've taken on more,” Stutsman said. “I’m excited for what I can do and excited that I've been trusted.
“We're going to study. We'll be in that film room every single day. The dedication with this linebacker group, I've never seen anything like it. Every single day, we're texting the guys like 'Hey, when can I get in there?' We study, and it's not just the older guys. It's the younger guys too. It's really rare.”
Stutsman has gone from a player relying on talent, to a player relying on preparation which, in turn, will allow his talent to shine. Venables discovering his special skill-set and initial tweaks early will go a long way for both the Sooners and Stutsman’s career.
“To me, that very open and honest and raw conversation where we challenged him, I think really helped him from that time on,” Venables said. “He showed up for one of our first meetings, and he doesn’t have anything to write with. ‘Oh, you’re that good? You just remember everything?’ There was a long line of guys that showed up without something to write with, not just him. We got that fixed.
“Then again, I’ve seen more than incremental improvement with the more success he’s had, because we’ve played him at a lot of positions. Because he is a guy who locates the ball well and has a knack for finding the football. He's really taken off. Super proud of him. He’s strong. He’s confident, good health. He’s just scratching the surface of where he can be.”
The Stutsman-Venables duo could be special in Norman over the next few seasons. Mindset was a constant theme the coaches brought up this offseason, and this seems to be a prime example of the players buying in.
“He’s put a lot of trust into me,” Stutsman said. “We've had talks of what he wants from me this year, and I've tried to live up to that and just do what I'm told.”
