Memphis Christian Brothers offensive line coach Mike Stark is a veteran coach on the high school and college level, and he believes Arkansas is getting a special lineman in Patrick Kutas.
Stark played for Memphis State in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was an All-Missouri Valley Conference offensive lineman.
“I’ve coached for a long time and I’ve coached some really good ones, and he’s probably top two or three I’ve coached, and that’s college and high school,” Stark said.
Stark, who retired from the University of Memphis where he was the strength coach for 15 years, added, “He’s a really, really good player, but the thing about it is he enjoys every bit of it. He enjoys the practice part of it.”
Kutas, 6-5, 280 pounds, of Christian Brothers, committed to Arkansas over Oregon, Illinois and Florida State in July. He also had offers from Louisville, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Purdue, Virginia, Virginia Tech and other programs.
He’s graded out at 94.4% and has 19 pancake blocks while allowing 0 sacks for the season.
“We grade on three things: we grade on assignment and we grade on execution of that assignment,” Stark said. “A lot of that’s going to be steps and footwork and things like that. Then the other one is effort. He always scores in the 100s for effort. He’s an effort guy.”
Stark said Kutas’ effort leads to him playing off the camera.
“He’s still driving guys,” Stark said. “He plays until the whistle and he’s still putting guys on their back and throwing them out of the picture. He’s not even in the camera sometimes.
"He keeps working the guy he gets on and he stays on them. He’s pretty relentless about stuff like that.”
Kutas is very coachable and plays with a chip on his shoulder.
“He’s constantly trying to please and he’s a sponge for football, and he absolutely loves football,” Stark said. “He plays with passion for the game. He loves the game of football, he loves to train. He loves the whole thing, the whole process.”
The future Razorback is young for his age, which makes him that much more intriguing as a prospect.
“He’s going to get out of here when he’s 17 years old,” Stark said. “There’s a huge difference in a 17-year-old and a 19-year-old, so you’re really getting a total package of a kid that’s really mature for his age, but he still has some development to go.
"He’s going to be a really good player.”
Kutas, who has a 3.9 grade-point average, gives maximum effort in every area of his life.
“He’s a champion,” Stark said. “He’s like that in the classroom and the way he handles himself. He’s like that with his family. He just doesn’t pick and choose.
"He’s that way in everything he does.”