The face bares a vague resemblance of one familiar to die-hard football fans. Football is a part of his lineage. That’s why, no longer pursuing his NFL dreams, Luke Butkus decided to pursue the next best thing – coaching.
Family lines connect him to hard-hitting Hall of Fame football player Dick Butkus, a Malibu, Calif., resident. His father, cousin and sibling played in the NFL.
Luke Butkus played too, with four solid seasons at the University of Illinois. His dreams of following in his family’s NFL footsteps dissipated without making the San Diego Chargers and Houston Texans and after trips to NFL Europe.
With his professional football options dwindling, Butkus decided to bypass the on-field options and sent his resume to colleges across the country.
Oregon was one of the few colleges that responded. Butkus applied to his alma mater but was lost in the Illinois coaching change from Ron Turner to Ron Zook.
Butkus, a graduate assistant coach with Oregon’s offensive line, has helped to shore up a question mark entering this season. The young core of linebackers had people questioning whether they could hold up, support a powerful running game led by Terrence Whitehead and protect senior quarterback Kellen Clemens.
Oregon has enjoyed a resurgence after last season’s 5-6 disappointment as Clemens had a breakout season, placing him among the nation’s top quarterbacks before an injury, and Whitehead has come on strong late in the season. The success has made Butkus’ enjoyment this season unparalleled.
He works with offensive line coach Steve Greatwood, whom Butkus said allows him to coach instead of relegating him to less interactive tasks. The players have been receptive to his coaching methods and ideas, Butkus said.
“(Greatwood) gives me a chance to teach these guys – use my knowledge to help them out a little bit,” Butkus said.
He plans to continue coaching either at the college or high school level.
Butkus said his job involves watching game film to study
opposing teams’ defenses in order to help Oregon offensively. His schedule varies, but he said he’s used to long days helping the coaches create that week’s game plan, teaching players in meetings and working with players at practice.
Butkus has always played football, whether competitively or with the family back home in Steger, Ill. His father worked as a truck driver and his mother was a housewife; Butkus was the youngest of eight siblings. Home is where Butkus got his work ethic – where chores came first and play came second.
“We’re are not the best athletes, but hard workers,” Butkus said.
His family continues to live in the Chicago area and Northwest Indiana with a few relatives in California and Florida, Butkus said.
Butkus played college football at Illinois with quarterback Kurt Kittner and wide receiver Brandon Lloyd. Both are in the NFL now, Kittner on the Chicago Bears and Lloyd on the San Francisco 49ers.
Butkus spent five years at Illinois from 1997, his redshirt season, through 2001. His father Ron Butkus, cousin Mark Butkus and his uncle played with Illinois.
After going undrafted, Luke Butkus kept his NFL dreams alive with stints on the Chargers and Texans. He spent much of the 2003 season on the Chargers’ practice squad and participated in training camp with the Texans in fall 2004 after NFL Europe ended. Seasons spent playing for NFL Europe gave him new cultural experiences and an arena to show his talent.
Butkus played with Rhein Fire in Germany, earning all-league honors in 2003 and starting every game for Cologne Centurion also in Germany in 2004. The experience was memorable with football popular, but nothing near soccer, Butkus said.
“Once you’re over there and you’re playing football you kind of realize there’s so much history there,” Butkus said. “Every opportunity I had, I tried to travel somewhere or go see something.”
By continuing to play after college, it allowed him to delay his entrance into the real world, but eventually it became time to move on, he said.
Butkus watches pro football on Sundays as a fan now and however his past teams do, Butkus said he doesn’t hold any hard feelings, but enjoys seeing old friends.
“I didn’t think I’d ever give that up,” Butkus said of playing football. “Now that I got the chance to coach, it makes the transition a little easier.”
His uncle has remained in the spotlight with a coaching role on ESPN’s reality series “Bound for Glory.” On the show, Dick Butkus, 62, helps coach the Montour Spartans in Pittsburgh, Penn., who won two games the two seasons prior to his arrival. The team’s head coach Lou Cerro is in charge, but Dick Butkus helps with positive mental attitudes and fundamentals.
Naturally, with the similarity between uncle and nephew, Luke Butkus has been asked countless times about his uncle, the NFL Hall of Famer and fierce defender for the Chicago Bears in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Luke Butkus said he enjoys the show and glad to see his uncle active.
“He’s my family and I’m proud of what he did and what he’s doing,” Butkus added. “It’s great and I love it. … I love him for being my uncle first and then doing all this great stuff second.”

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