Across the country on Wednesday, thousands of athletes will sign their letters of intent to play college football at programs from the lowest levels to the most iconic.
These ceremonies all look somewhat similar. A table and chairs are set up in a gymnasium. A coach or maybe a teacher or the athletic director will say a few words. The players thank their family and friends, and they sign their letter of intent.
Pen meets paper, and the celebration begins.
But in Memphis, Tennessee, there’s a seat that will sit empty, because of a tragic ATV accident that happened a little over six months ago.
That seat would have been filled by Dion Michael Stutts, a defensive lineman committed to play for Arkansas.
His name and legacy will be remembered by HawgBeat and by Arkansas fans.
Dion was a goofy kid. Known fondly as “Big Country,” his best friend was a donkey named Sparkle. He made funny TikTok videos with his friends. His mother Shante said she remembers him embracing the country lifestyle.
“I remember he always wanted to go outside,” Shante said. “And he just reminded me a lot of myself because I was raised on our family's ranch as well. And so … he just loved it, he just, and of course, my dad only had two girls. So when Dion came along this time, that kind of became the boy that he wanted. And what happened was, he loved outside, he loved the whole cow and donkey thing. And so he just was always very, very busy.”
Dino, Dion’s father, said fishing was something the two did together.
“He always wanted to learn to hunt, and hunting was not something I really was into, but I enjoyed fishing,” Dino said. “So his hobby became fishing. He was an avid fisherman. He wanted to basically be a Bass Pro fisherman, he just wanted to outdo anybody that got paid to catch a fish.”
Another part of that country lifestyle in Mississippi is dropping everything when the cows get out of the pasture. Anyone who has worked with cattle before understands. For those who don’t, Dion put a video that went viral on his TikTok account to illustrate.
Shante described Dion as a “character,” recalling when he was baptized as a child around the age of five years old. She sang in the choir and Dino was a highway patrolman, so her mom took care of Dion during church. Well, one day Dion got loose.
“This was a day that we had like a big service where there were a lot of deacons and preachers,” Shante said. “And he got up and he said, just in the middle of service, he was like, ‘Hey, I want to talk!’ and I was like, ‘Get the baby. Somebody just get him.’ And my husband was on the side. And I was like, ‘Somebody just grab him.’
“And, and of course, the deacons were like, ‘Well, no, let him talk.’ And he said, ‘Hey, this fire y’all talking about, I don't want to burn.’ He said, ‘I don't want to burn in the fire. Nobody asked me if I want to be baptized.’ And so the deacons started talking to him and the preachers, and they were like, ‘Well, son, tell us,’ and he said ‘Look, I believe. I believe I believe in God. And I believe in Jesus and I want to be baptized, I don't want to go, I don't want to be in the fire. And I don't want to be left here.’”
Naturally, Dion had to make it an entertaining event.
“That baptism was funny because he was dog-paddling across the pool,” Shante said. “Just things that you would never think of doing, Dion was the person that would always do it.”
That’s who Dion was overall. He loved life and he loved living it. His head football coach, Bobby Alston, said some of his favorite memories of Dion are when he was simply having fun goofing off with his teammates.
“He would spend a lot of his free time right outside my office,” Alston said. “He and his buddies would hang out outside my office and they're just always kidding around and horsing around and, just seeing him enjoy life like he did, that's probably my fondest memory.”
Alston said he remembers the happiness Dion used to play with on the field, too.
“He loved playing, loved playing with his teammates, loved playing the game itself,” Alston said. “But he also loved his teammates and just played the game with joy. Smile, big smile on his face all the time, he really enjoyed it.”
When it came to actually playing football, though, Dion was serious. He struggled to see the field during his 9th- and 10th-grade seasons (something Dino jokingly attributed to poor technique), so he found a way to gain an edge — wrestling.
It was never a long-term plan for Dion, even though colleges did offer him wrestling scholarships. Football was his No. 1 passion. Alston said wrestling also gave Dion another outlet for competition.
“I think it really helped him a lot helped him learn how to use his hands better, his feet get quicker,” Alston said. “But more than anything, I think just that having that period of time when you're competing against somebody else, as opposed to just kids (who) just play football, and only have that one season to compete. He was competing during football, and he went to wrestling and competed (as well).”
It wasn’t until May 2022 that the first letter came in the mail. It was a scholarship offer to play college football for Austin Peay, the first one Dion had received. While the family appreciated the offer, Shante said they knew Dion was destined for bigger venues.
“I saw greater things,” Shante said. “I just, you know, we were all SEC and I just kept thinking, ‘Okay, there’s more out there.’”
After that, Dion started getting more and more offers from everywhere. Ole Miss, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Missouri, of course Arkansas and others.
As an Ole Miss grad herself, Shante said she was partial to the Rebels, but really she wanted the best situation for Dion.
Dino, however, said he knew this decision was Dion’s to make, and Dion’s alone.
“My advice (to Dion) was, ‘Hey man, you got to do what’s going to make you happy and understand that wherever you decide to go, this is going to be your decision,’” Dino said. “You know? ‘This is going to be your first grown man decision.’”
That decision was the University of Arkansas.
Dion had his choice of several big-time SEC schools. What stuck out about Arkansas was that it truly felt like home.
“He went to Arkansas and when he came back from Arkansas, he was like this different kid,” Shante said. “He was like ‘Mom, I found it. It’s like home.’”
He took that trip in Jan. 2023 with his dad because COVID canceled a wrestling tournament the two were set to travel to. Arkansas defensive line coach Deke Adams had been recruiting Dion while he was at South Carolina, and once Adams got to Arkansas, it made Dion want to visit even more.
"I said, 'You sure that's where you want to go with your one free weekend?'" Dino said. "And he was set on going to Arkansas."
Something Adams and Dino had in common was that they both went to Southern Miss. Dino said he started researching Adams and was impressed that he coached Jadeveon Clowney during his time at South Carolina as well.
"This man had a long history of being a coach in different places and putting together pretty good guys in the program who went to the (NFL)," Dino said. "So I told (Dion), 'You might be on to something.'"
After that trip, Dion pleaded with Shante to visit Arkansas. He returned a short time later the weekend of March 11, this time, with his mom as well.
“When I went to Arkansas, I saw what he saw,” Shante said. “The whole feeling like home. The country setting that he likes, because I mean he's such a country kid.”
Leaving the small town of Batesville, Mississippi, for Fayetteville, Arkansas, wouldn’t come without its challenges. Being a teenager that far from home can be a difficult transition for anyone. But Shante said she trusted Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman and the program to take care of him.
“I wanted him to stay humble,” Shante said. “And I was like, ‘I'm not giving you a bad kid. I want him to still be a good kid.’ And so those are the things I was really looking for for him because … I thought anywhere he could play football. I mean, I figured out by that time, he was pretty good, so he could play football anywhere. But it was more of the culture and him feeling like home and being around the right people was what I was looking for.”
One thing that might have helped him was having someone from his home on campus with him. JuJu Pope, a four-star athlete who will sign with the Hogs on Wednesday, committed partially because Dion recruited him to join him on the Hill.
“He talked to Pope, and he was like ‘Remember how we wanted to be state champs at South Panola?’” Dino said. “He said, ‘Let’s do one better. Let’s win a national championship at Arkansas.’”
Dion called the Hogs on March 11. The decision came during a meeting with Pittman in his office. Dion talked to HawgBeat after he committed about the conversation.
"I talked to Coach Pittman (Saturday) in his office and he told me ‘I know you want to commit here’ which was true, which was very much true," Stutts said on March 11. "But he said, ‘At this point, you’re just trying to find reasons why not to.’ And I didn’t think of it that way at first but that really was the reason. At that moment, I realized I’m a Hog. So I committed.”
That conversation, Dino said later, made him extremely proud as a father.
CONTINUE READING BY CLICKING HERE.
These ceremonies all look somewhat similar. A table and chairs are set up in a gymnasium. A coach or maybe a teacher or the athletic director will say a few words. The players thank their family and friends, and they sign their letter of intent.
Pen meets paper, and the celebration begins.
But in Memphis, Tennessee, there’s a seat that will sit empty, because of a tragic ATV accident that happened a little over six months ago.
That seat would have been filled by Dion Michael Stutts, a defensive lineman committed to play for Arkansas.
His name and legacy will be remembered by HawgBeat and by Arkansas fans.
Dion was a goofy kid. Known fondly as “Big Country,” his best friend was a donkey named Sparkle. He made funny TikTok videos with his friends. His mother Shante said she remembers him embracing the country lifestyle.
“I remember he always wanted to go outside,” Shante said. “And he just reminded me a lot of myself because I was raised on our family's ranch as well. And so … he just loved it, he just, and of course, my dad only had two girls. So when Dion came along this time, that kind of became the boy that he wanted. And what happened was, he loved outside, he loved the whole cow and donkey thing. And so he just was always very, very busy.”
Dino, Dion’s father, said fishing was something the two did together.
“He always wanted to learn to hunt, and hunting was not something I really was into, but I enjoyed fishing,” Dino said. “So his hobby became fishing. He was an avid fisherman. He wanted to basically be a Bass Pro fisherman, he just wanted to outdo anybody that got paid to catch a fish.”
Another part of that country lifestyle in Mississippi is dropping everything when the cows get out of the pasture. Anyone who has worked with cattle before understands. For those who don’t, Dion put a video that went viral on his TikTok account to illustrate.
Shante described Dion as a “character,” recalling when he was baptized as a child around the age of five years old. She sang in the choir and Dino was a highway patrolman, so her mom took care of Dion during church. Well, one day Dion got loose.
“This was a day that we had like a big service where there were a lot of deacons and preachers,” Shante said. “And he got up and he said, just in the middle of service, he was like, ‘Hey, I want to talk!’ and I was like, ‘Get the baby. Somebody just get him.’ And my husband was on the side. And I was like, ‘Somebody just grab him.’
“And, and of course, the deacons were like, ‘Well, no, let him talk.’ And he said, ‘Hey, this fire y’all talking about, I don't want to burn.’ He said, ‘I don't want to burn in the fire. Nobody asked me if I want to be baptized.’ And so the deacons started talking to him and the preachers, and they were like, ‘Well, son, tell us,’ and he said ‘Look, I believe. I believe I believe in God. And I believe in Jesus and I want to be baptized, I don't want to go, I don't want to be in the fire. And I don't want to be left here.’”
Naturally, Dion had to make it an entertaining event.
“That baptism was funny because he was dog-paddling across the pool,” Shante said. “Just things that you would never think of doing, Dion was the person that would always do it.”
That’s who Dion was overall. He loved life and he loved living it. His head football coach, Bobby Alston, said some of his favorite memories of Dion are when he was simply having fun goofing off with his teammates.
“He would spend a lot of his free time right outside my office,” Alston said. “He and his buddies would hang out outside my office and they're just always kidding around and horsing around and, just seeing him enjoy life like he did, that's probably my fondest memory.”
Alston said he remembers the happiness Dion used to play with on the field, too.
“He loved playing, loved playing with his teammates, loved playing the game itself,” Alston said. “But he also loved his teammates and just played the game with joy. Smile, big smile on his face all the time, he really enjoyed it.”
When it came to actually playing football, though, Dion was serious. He struggled to see the field during his 9th- and 10th-grade seasons (something Dino jokingly attributed to poor technique), so he found a way to gain an edge — wrestling.
It was never a long-term plan for Dion, even though colleges did offer him wrestling scholarships. Football was his No. 1 passion. Alston said wrestling also gave Dion another outlet for competition.
“I think it really helped him a lot helped him learn how to use his hands better, his feet get quicker,” Alston said. “But more than anything, I think just that having that period of time when you're competing against somebody else, as opposed to just kids (who) just play football, and only have that one season to compete. He was competing during football, and he went to wrestling and competed (as well).”
It wasn’t until May 2022 that the first letter came in the mail. It was a scholarship offer to play college football for Austin Peay, the first one Dion had received. While the family appreciated the offer, Shante said they knew Dion was destined for bigger venues.
“I saw greater things,” Shante said. “I just, you know, we were all SEC and I just kept thinking, ‘Okay, there’s more out there.’”
After that, Dion started getting more and more offers from everywhere. Ole Miss, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Missouri, of course Arkansas and others.
As an Ole Miss grad herself, Shante said she was partial to the Rebels, but really she wanted the best situation for Dion.
Dino, however, said he knew this decision was Dion’s to make, and Dion’s alone.
“My advice (to Dion) was, ‘Hey man, you got to do what’s going to make you happy and understand that wherever you decide to go, this is going to be your decision,’” Dino said. “You know? ‘This is going to be your first grown man decision.’”
That decision was the University of Arkansas.
Dion had his choice of several big-time SEC schools. What stuck out about Arkansas was that it truly felt like home.
“He went to Arkansas and when he came back from Arkansas, he was like this different kid,” Shante said. “He was like ‘Mom, I found it. It’s like home.’”
He took that trip in Jan. 2023 with his dad because COVID canceled a wrestling tournament the two were set to travel to. Arkansas defensive line coach Deke Adams had been recruiting Dion while he was at South Carolina, and once Adams got to Arkansas, it made Dion want to visit even more.
"I said, 'You sure that's where you want to go with your one free weekend?'" Dino said. "And he was set on going to Arkansas."
Something Adams and Dino had in common was that they both went to Southern Miss. Dino said he started researching Adams and was impressed that he coached Jadeveon Clowney during his time at South Carolina as well.
"This man had a long history of being a coach in different places and putting together pretty good guys in the program who went to the (NFL)," Dino said. "So I told (Dion), 'You might be on to something.'"
After that trip, Dion pleaded with Shante to visit Arkansas. He returned a short time later the weekend of March 11, this time, with his mom as well.
“When I went to Arkansas, I saw what he saw,” Shante said. “The whole feeling like home. The country setting that he likes, because I mean he's such a country kid.”
Leaving the small town of Batesville, Mississippi, for Fayetteville, Arkansas, wouldn’t come without its challenges. Being a teenager that far from home can be a difficult transition for anyone. But Shante said she trusted Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman and the program to take care of him.
“I wanted him to stay humble,” Shante said. “And I was like, ‘I'm not giving you a bad kid. I want him to still be a good kid.’ And so those are the things I was really looking for for him because … I thought anywhere he could play football. I mean, I figured out by that time, he was pretty good, so he could play football anywhere. But it was more of the culture and him feeling like home and being around the right people was what I was looking for.”
One thing that might have helped him was having someone from his home on campus with him. JuJu Pope, a four-star athlete who will sign with the Hogs on Wednesday, committed partially because Dion recruited him to join him on the Hill.
“He talked to Pope, and he was like ‘Remember how we wanted to be state champs at South Panola?’” Dino said. “He said, ‘Let’s do one better. Let’s win a national championship at Arkansas.’”
Dion called the Hogs on March 11. The decision came during a meeting with Pittman in his office. Dion talked to HawgBeat after he committed about the conversation.
"I talked to Coach Pittman (Saturday) in his office and he told me ‘I know you want to commit here’ which was true, which was very much true," Stutts said on March 11. "But he said, ‘At this point, you’re just trying to find reasons why not to.’ And I didn’t think of it that way at first but that really was the reason. At that moment, I realized I’m a Hog. So I committed.”
That conversation, Dino said later, made him extremely proud as a father.
CONTINUE READING BY CLICKING HERE.
