Hall of Fame
Gary Butler was a three-year starting linebacker for the Cal U football team from 2005 through 2007.
Butler was selected as the 2007 PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year and earned D2Football.com and Daktronics All-America honors after setting then-single-season school records with 12.0 sacks and 19.0 tackles for losses (TFL), along with 69 total tackles. He also recorded two safeties and recovered two fumbles that year.
During the team’s 11-0 regular season — the program’s first perfect showing since the 1958 team went 8-0 — Butler was named PSAC West Defensive Player of the Week twice while the entire defensive unit shared the weekly award after another victory.
Butler’s dominant 2007 play helped Cal U’s defense rank first nationally among all NCAA Division II teams in scoring (11.1 points per game), rushing (55.9 yards per game) and total defense (207.6 ypg).
Cal U’s 2007 team won a school-record 13 games (13-1) and advanced to the national semifinals in the program’s first NCAA Division II playoff appearance. The Vulcans won the NCAA Division II Northwest Regional title and were awarded the ECAC Lambert Trophy.
Despite receiving numerous individual honors after his senior year, Butler prefers to talk about the team’s effort and commitment while reflecting on that banner season.
“There’s no greater thing in football than team accomplishment,” he said. “Becoming the No. 1 defense in the country took sacrifices from everyone. Many of us had played together for several years and we had a complete understanding of holding each other accountable, along with coaches who put all of us in position to succeed.
“The practice and weekly preparation throughout that season was the most intense, focused and disciplined I’ve even been a part of.”
Butler becomes the second Vulcan from the 2007 team to earn Hall of Fame honors, joining 2013 inductee and All-American offensive lineman Tim McCutcheon.
He signaled out quarterback Joe Ruggiero and fellow linebacker Brian Mohr ’08 for their leadership while continuing to emphasize teamwork.
“Being inducted into the Hall of Fame is a huge result of that season and I dedicate this honor to all of all my teammates because it was a complete selflessness with that team,” said Butler. “There really was no ‘me’ or ‘I’ on that team. We had guys you knew you could count on and we loved playing with and for each other.”
Butler progressed as a player throughout his collegiate sports career. After making 19 tackles with one interception during his 2004 freshman season, he became a starter in 2005 and helped the Vulcans (8-2) win their first PSAC West title in 21 years. In eight games, he made 40 total tackles, with 5.0 TFL, 0.5 sack, a fumble recovery and a pass break-up.
The following year, Butler increased his total tackles to 45 with 4.5 TFL, 3.0 sacks, a fumble recovery, and a 28-yard interception return for a touchdown in a road win at Shippensburg. The 2006 Vulcans recorded two shutouts, as they again won eight games and repeated as PSAC West champions.
Over Butler’s final three seasons, Cal U compiled a 29-6 cumulative record with a 16-2 divisional mark, along with PSAC West championships.
Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Butler did not play interscholastic football until his senior year at Langley High School.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in liberal studies from Cal U, where he served as a graduate assistant coach for the 2008 PSAC Championship team, which went 12-2 overall with another trip to the national semifinals. Butler was a volunteer coach for the 2010 team, which went 10-2 overall with a PSAC West co-championship and NCAA playoff appearance.
After graduating from Cal U, Butler signed with the Philadelphia Eagles and then played 10 games with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League. From 2011-2014 he played in the Arena Football League, first with the Pittsburgh Power and then with the Cleveland Gladiators, who reached the 2014 ArenaBowl. He finished his Arena Football career with 87 total tackles, nine sacks and 12 pass break-ups.
Butler is beginning his fourth season as an assistant coach at North Park University in Chicago, Ill., where he works under head coach Mike Conway, the Vulcans’ former defensive coordinator and associate head coach.
Conway explained that Butler made the Vulcans as a walk-on and never looked back.
“Gary Butler is perhaps the greatest defensive player that I have had the privilege to coach in my 27 years,” Conway said. “Through hard work and a tremendous passion for the game, he became the most dominant defensive player of his time.”
Butler recently was promoted to defensive coordinator after coaching the North Park linebackers and special teams.
During Conway and Butler’s first season at North Park, the Vikings ended an 89-game conference losing streak by going 3-4 in the NCAA Division III’s College Conference of Illinois.
“There was a culture of losing here and it was almost somewhat of a recreational sport,” Butler said. “The sacrifices we were asked and made at Cal opened my eyes in coaching.
“It’s not cracking the whip, but understanding and instilling the type of work ethic needed to turn a program around. That’s what we are doing at North Park and when I’m out recruiting I talk about how we turned the program around at Cal U all the time.”
Butler has not only made the transition from player to coach but has begun a flourishing career path according to Conway.
“He is an outstanding coach and role model who has used the same work ethic and passion he had as a player on the field to build into the lives of the players he now coaches,” Conway said.
Butler is grateful and excited to convey his football knowledge onto others.
“There’s nothing better than waking up everyday and being happy with what I am doing and being able to help young men by passing on the things I’ve learned from Coach Conway and my other coaches,” Butler said.
Butler, who is single, makes his home in Chicago.
updated 4/8/16
