Craig Keola Stutzmann (born July 14, 1980) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and former player who is the offensive coordinator for the

San Jose State Spartans The San Jose State Spartans are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent San José State University. SJSU sports teams compete in the Mountain West Conference at the NCAA Division I level, with football competing in the Football Bowl S ...

. He was previously the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the

Washington State Cougars The Washington State Cougars (known informally as the Cougs) are the sport, athletic teams that represent Washington State University. Located in Pullman, Washington, WSU is a member of the Pac-12 Conference in NCAA Division I. The athletic pr ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the Hawaii Warriors.

Playing career

Stutzmann was a four-year letterman at the

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, where he played

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. He started in three seasons as a

slotback Slotback (SB), also called slot receiver, is an offensive position in gridiron football responsible for covering a ''slot,'' the playing area between the⁣⁣ offensive tackle and the wide receiver. A player who lines up between those two pl ...

June Jones June Sheldon Jones III (born February 19, 1953) is an American football coach and former player who was most recently the offensive coordinator of the Seattle Sea Dragons. Jones was the head football coach at the University of Hawaii at Manoa ...

run and shoot offense The run and shoot offense (also known as Run N' Shoot) is an offensive system for American football which emphasizes receiver motion and on-the-fly adjustments of receivers' routes in response to different defenses. It was conceived by former ...

, garnering two honorable mentions in all-WAC selections on his way to 2,025 career receiving yards. He made headlines in the final game of his college career in 2001 when he was ejected in the game against BYU for punting a football into the stands and jumping into them after scoring a touchdown. Stutzmann has stated that he does not regret doing the punt and that he probably would've practiced to punt it higher. He spent one season with the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

after his college career before getting into coaching.

Coaching career

Early career

Stutzmann began his coaching career as

Kalaheo High School Kalāheo High School is a public high school in Kailua CDP,2000 boundaries: - Page1an2/ref> City and County of Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, United States, on the island of Oʻahu. The school building opened as Kalāheo Intermediate School in 1966, but ...

in 2003, serving as the offensive coordinator for the football team. He was hired by his alma mater

Saint Louis School Saint Louis School, located in the neighborhood of St. Louis Heights in Honolulu, Hawaii, is a historic Catholic college preparatory school for boys. It was founded in 1846 to serve Catholics in the former Kingdom of Hawaii. Located within the ...

in 2004 as a varsity assistant before being named the head coach of the junior varsity team in 2005. He was named a graduate assistant on the coaching staff at Hawaii in 2008, before leaving to join

Jerry Glanville Jerry Michael Glanville (born October 14, 1941) is an American football coach. He is the defensive coordinator for Northwestern Oklahoma State University, a position he has held since 2024. Prior to that, was most recently the head coach of the ...

's staff at

Portland State Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the next ...

in 2009 as a wide receivers coach. After Glanville resigned from Portland State in 2009, Stutzmann left and accepted a position at

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...

as a graduate assistant. He was named the wide receivers coach at

Rhodes College Rhodes College is a private liberal arts college in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), it is a member of the Associated Colleges of the South and is accredited by the Southern Associa ...

in Memphis in 2011, only spending one season there before being named the wide receivers coach at

Weber State Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy and earned its current name in 1991. As of fall 2023, the student population reached 30,536 students, cons ...

in 2012. He was named the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Emory & Henry in 2014, spending two seasons there before accepting a position on the coaching staff at Hawaii in 2016.

Second stint at Hawaii

Stutzmann was hired at Hawaii as the team's passing game coordinator under former teammate

Nick Rolovich Nicholas Robert Rolovich ( ; born February 16, 1979) is an American football coach and former player who is currently a senior offensive assistant at California. Rolovich majored in economics at the University of Hawaii and earned a master's de ...

. He was also named the quarterbacks coach after Zak Hill left to be the offensive coordinator at

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It ...

. After Rolovich left to be the next head coach at

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

, Stutzmann was rumored to be a top candidate to replace Rolovich as head coach at Hawaii, garnering support from the Hawaii fanbase and received an endorsement from

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

winner

Marcus Mariota Marcus Ardel Taulauniu Mariota (born October 30, 1993) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oregon Ducks footb ...

, who played at Saint Louis while Stutzmann was coaching at the school.

Washington State

After

Todd Graham Michael Todd Graham (born December 5, 1964) is an American college football coach and former player who serves as an offensive analyst for TCU. He was most recently the head football coach at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Playing car ...

was hired as Rolovich's successor at Hawaii, Stutzmann was officially added to Rolovich's staff at Washington State. He was named the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, sharing coordinator duties with Brian Smith. Washington State fired Stutzmann, along with Rolovich and three other assistants, for failing to comply with Washington's COVID-19 vaccination mandate.

Utah Tech

In January 2022, Stutzmann was announced as the new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Utah Tech, formerly known as Dixie State.

Green Bay Packers

On May 11, 2022, Stutzmann was announced as a member of the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship program.

San Jose State

Stutzmann joined

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

in 2024 as their offensive coordinator.

Football strategy

After playing under the run and shoot for Jones and working alongside Rolovich as a coach, Stutzmann designed a

spread offense :''"Spread offense" may also refer to the four corners offense in basketball.'' The spread offense is an offensive scheme in gridiron football that typically places the quarterback in the shotgun formation, and "spreads" the offense horizontal ...

variant called the "Spread-N-Shred" that he first implemented at Emory & Henry; the name was coined by ''

Bristol Herald Courier The ''Bristol Herald Courier'' is a daily newspaper owned by Lee Enterprises. The newspaper is located in Bristol, Virginia, a small city located in Southwest Virginia on the Tennessee border. The ''Herald Courier'' is in what the media indust ...

'' writer Allen Gregory. The system is described as a "wide-open offense" that places offensive players across the field to misalign defenses.

Personal life and education

Born in

Hilo, Hawaii Hilo () is the largest settlement in and the county seat of Hawaii County, Hawaiʻi, United States, which encompasses the Island of Hawaiʻi, and is a census-designated place (CDP). The population was 44,186 according to the 2020 census. I ...

and raised in

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

, Stutzmann attended

before attending the

. He earned his bachelor's degree in political science from Hawaii in 2002, and his master's in education from Hawaii in 2010. Stutzmann and his wife, Briana, have one son. His younger brother Billy Ray, also a wide receiver at Hawaii under Rolovich, was an offensive assistant at the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

before being terminated in September 2021, also for refusing to take a COVID vaccine. Billy Ray later worked under Craig at Utah Tech and San Jose State as a wide receivers coach and senior offensive analyst, respectively.

References

External links

*
Washington State profile

Hawaii coach profile

Weber State profile

Idaho State profile

Hawaii player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stutzmann, Craig 1980 births Living people American football wide receivers Emory and Henry Wasps football coaches Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football coaches Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football players Memphis Tigers football coaches Portland State Vikings football coaches Rhodes Lynx football coaches San Jose State Spartans football coaches Texas State Bobcats football coaches Utah Tech Trailblazers football coaches Washington State Cougars football coaches Weber State Wildcats football coaches High school football coaches in Hawaii Saint Louis School alumni Coaches of American football from Hawaii Players of American football from Honolulu Pacific Islander American players of American football Native Hawaiian sportspeople