A MAN ON A MISSION
Mutin eager to make up for lost time after injury-shortened season
Donavan Mutin wants to be in the middle of all the action, something that was hard to do stuck on the sideline with an injury last season.
A team captain and vocal leader of the University of Houston defense, Mutin, a junior middle linebacker, was limited to three games with an undisclosed injury during the coronavirus-abbreviated season.
Coach Dana Holgorsen could see a dropoff without one of the Cougars’ top defenders on the field.
“We got worse on defense once he got hurt,” Holgorsen said this spring. “We were not the same.”
Once again healthy, Mutin has been a man on a mission in preseason camp, according to players and coaches, as the Cougars prepare to open the season Sept. 4 against Texas Tech.
“He is probably one of the most passionate dudes I’ve been around in my life,” senior linebacker Deontay Anderson said. “He takes advantage of every day like it’s his last.”
And Mutin is eager to make up for lost time.
A year after moving into the starting lineup full time as a sophomore in 2019, Mutin was hurt in the third game of the season against Navy and did not play the rest of the year. It was a noticeable absence for the Cougars without the player widely regarded as the “quarterback of the defense,” responsible for receiving calls from the sideline and aligning the defense.
“It was extremely tough (to sit out last season),” Mutin said. “This game, what we do here and being around my teammates, that’s everything. Letting those guys know I care, and I’m involved and present. Not being able to be there that much was tough.”
After graduating from Klein Collins High School, Mutin was thrown into the fire immediately at UH, playing 10 games as a true freshman and making 12 starts as a sophomore when he finished third on the team with 61 tackles.
“I want to have the pressure on my back,” Mutin said. “I want people to count on me when it’s that time. I want to be a guy that my teammates know that I am there and I’m consistent and present. Just being there as much as I can.
“I’ve never been the biggest, tallest, strongest, fastest or most talented. But I know my presence, my leadership, my standing for what’s right, and playing with all my effort affects people.”
Doug Belk, UH’s associate head coach and defensive coordinator, said Mutin offers just as much off the field as he does on the field.
“Donnie is very unique,” Belk said. “He’s very intelligent and sees things in a different way, asks good questions and ultimately he holds his teammates accountable … He diagnoses things and studies hard. He’s a deep thinker. When Donnie comes in a room, you have to make sure you’re locked in because he’s going to ask you some tough questions.”
As he worked his way back, Mutin said he placed added emphasis on improvement, particularly in pass coverage.
“I’ve always been a guy, it’s kind of been a natural thing for me to be around the ball, find the ball and make plays in the run game,” he added. “But if I’m being honest, I was a liability in the pass game. It’s not that I was bad at it, but I just did not take the time and put the effort to be better and more effective in closing windows, drops, reading route combinations. I’m really trying to increase my value when it comes to that.”
For the second straight season, Mutin was a unanimous pick for a team captain spot in voting by his teammates.
“He helps not just me but everybody, from the person who may not play to the person who is the best player on the team,” Anderson said. “I think everyone should follow him. I know I do.”
Being a team captain has been the biggest award “in my life,” Mutin said.
“That my team feels like I’m a guy that they want to follow, put their trust in me, I can’t be more grateful for that,” he added. “I hold that to the highest standard. I go home and think about ways how not to let my team down.”