Introduction
Lucas J. Butkus (born June 26, 1979) is an American football coach and former center, currently serving as offensive line coach for the University of Illinois football team.
Playing career
He attended training camp with the Bears in 2002 and the San Diego Chargers in 2003. Butkus also played center for the Rhein Fire (2003) and Cologne Centurions (2004) of NFL Europe. He attended Bloom Trail High School in Chicago Heights, Illinois and the University of Illinois.
Coaching career
Prior to joining the Bears, he spent the two years as a graduate assistant coach at the University of Oregon (2005–06). While the announcement that the tenure of Quality Control coaches Butkus and Charles London would end came on the same day as the public learned that several Bears' offensive coaches would be fired, leading to speculation that London and Butkus were fired for performance issues, the team would later clarify that the Quality Control coaches were signed to contracts set to expire after the 2009/10 season, regardless of the team's final standing.
Butkus joined the Seattle Seahawks on February 1, 2010 as an assistant offensive line coach. Butkus left the Seahawk organization on January 3, 2011 and spent three seasons with the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars. He was offered a position with his alma mater, the University of Illinois, by new Illini head coach Tim Beckman. Butkus continued in 2016 as offensive line coach to new head coach Lovie Smith.