You’re William Byrd football coach Brad Lutz and your team is playing arch-
rival Lord Botetourt for the Region 3D championship. It comes down to overtime and the
crowd is roaring and Botetourt fans are shouting from the edge of the field and Terrier
fans are wondering “what are you going to do?” The answer is simple. Put the ball in the
hands of your son.
That was the scenario in Danville last season when the Terriers defeated LB, 48-
46, in double overtime to reach the Class 3 state semifinal. Byrd came from 18 points
down in the third quarter when junior Cannin Lutz led a dramatic comeback for the win.
Cannin passed for two touchdowns and a two point conversion in the fourth
quarter as Byrd sent the game into overtime. Then, in the overtime, he passed for another
score to keep the Terriers alive on the first series and ran for a two-point conversion on
the second series that proved to be the winning points. Lutz was 17 for 24 passing for the
game for 207 yards and came up big in the clutch, a signature moment for the head
coach’s son.
After the season Cannin was named first team All-Region 3D at quarterback and
second team all-state in Class 3. He’s primed for a big senior year and with a season as
the starter under his belt the game has slowed down. He comes into Friday night’s opener
at home against Cave Spring confident and ready to lead the Terriers to another good
year.
“It will help having the varsity game speed experience and being able to
understand the atmosphere of each game going in,” he said.
For coach Lutz, it’s both a joy and a challenge having your son behind center.
Brad’s oldest son, Bryson, also played for Byrd and is now a senior starter on the
offensive line at Emory & Henry University. However, quarterback is a much more
visible position and leaves the coach and son open to critiques from the bleachers. Brad
feels Cannin handles it well.
“I have really enjoyed coaching both of my sons, but it has its challenges for both
of us,” said Brad. “Being his dad is more important to me than being his coach, so we
make that the priority. It’s tough being the coaches’ kid, but I think he handles that part
well.”
When they come home after the game or practice it’s not all about football.
“We talk about football as much as he wants to,” said Brad. “Our time away from
home is about our family, and that is more important to us.”
With that said, Cannin feels he’s been blessed to be able to play for his dad.
“Yes, because we can talk football at home and at the field,” said Cannin. “It’s
cool that my brother and I got to play for my dad. We talk after games and practices
about things we did well and things we need to improve. We also get to watch film
together.”
Both boys also play baseball. Bryson was a first baseman for the Terriers but he
was football all the way in his plans for college. Not so for Cannin, who was second team
All-Region 3D at third base during the spring baseball season. His strong arm is a plus in
both sports, as he also pitches for the Terriers.
“While I love football, I want to play baseball in college and I am still deciding
where I want to play,” he said.
In the meantime, he’ll lead a Byrd team that will be somewhat of a rebuild after
graduating a large group from last year’s 11-3 team. That group was 23-5 the past two
years with two trips to the state final. Byrd was 23-3 against public schools, losing to a
stacked Liberty Christian Academy in the state semifinals both seasons.
“We graduated 21 incredible young men with the class of 2025,” said coach Lutz. “All of them had value on and off the field for our program and school.”
Byrd had a great turnout for the team, and part of that is attributed to the success
from the past two years.
“We have a really good group of young men in our program,” said Lutz. “We
have 70 players in the program, and all of them were a part of the off-season program,
which speaks volumes about their commitment. Anytime you have success more kids
want to be a part of the program, but we have been very fortunate to have good numbers
for the last years.”
Brad is set at quarterback with Cannin and he’ll be backed up by sophomore
Ke’arion Burch and freshman Carter Gray. Senior Tate Kotz, a first team all-state
selection in Class 3, was one of Cannin’s favorite targets last year. Other receivers
include seniors Justyn Rozenboom, Kevin Green and Anthony Blake and junior Jakeem
Toler. They’ll all contribute, and junior Thomas Purcell is a quality tight end.
“Our offensive success is built around team success and players sharing the
football,” said Lutz. “We’re fortunate to have a group of receivers that have bought into
the team aspect of our offense.”
At running back senior Jamez Toler returns after missing the last eight games of
last season with an injury. He was having a terrific year when he went down against
William Fleming and in his absence Gray Mathews got an opportunity to carry the ball
and picked up where Toler left off, earning second team All-Region 3D honors as a
freshman. Jamez is back, Mathews is a sophomore and they’ll share the backfield this
year with junior Zane Taylor to give Byrd talent and depth at the position.
“They are a really good group of hard working, unselfish players,” said Lutz. “We
are blessed to have numerous options at running back, and that allows us to keep them
fresh and strong the entire game.”
Byrd will have to replace some key members of last year’s team on both the
offensive and defense lines. On offense tackles include Ryan Carroll, Caleb Wrye,
Jackson McCoy, Keegan Harold, and Owen Johnson. The guards will come from a group
of McCoy, Wrye, Lukas Riddle, Evan Tabor and Isiah Thompson. Nick Toney and
Dominic Myers are centers.
The defensive line will come from a group with Titus Beatty, Bruce Robinson,
Carroll, Caden McReynolds, Owen Johnson, and Myers.
“We rotate our defensive line, so we get a lot of players on the field during the
game,” said Lutz.
Linebackers will be Purcell, Stephen Byars and Taylor. Kotz, Burch, Andrew
Reynolds and Tyler Harris are in the secondary.
Connor Whitehead returns as placekicker. Lutz will punt and Jamez Toler and
Mathews will return kicks.
The coaching staff includes Brad’s brother Adam, who is the defensive
coordinator and inside linebackers coach. Avery Close has outside linebackers and tight
ends on offense. Will Satterfield has the defensive line and works with the special teams
along with Andrew Close. Andrew also has running backs and defensive backs. Byrd grad
Reece Watson coaches defensive backs and Ron Hicks has the quarterbacks.
Andrew Mitchell is the head JV coach, the JV offensive coordinator and also
works with wide receivers on both levels. Other JV coach are defensive coordinator Josh
Camden, Dajon Cardwell, Sam Cosnotti and long time Byrd coach Kim Colls.
Cody Underwood is the middle school coach. Support staff include Brad’s dad
Charlie Lutz with equipment and operations and Luke Richardson returns as student
manager.
The only new opponent on this year’ schedule is Radford, who replaces Liberty of
Bedford. The Bobcats will be here for the fifth game, where Cave Spring was last year,
and the Knights are now the opener.
“We are excited about our schedule,” said Lutz. “Every season we want to create
a schedule with quality opponents that will prepare us for the playoffs. I believe that was
an important piece in our recent success. This year, we added Radford to our schedule,
who recently won the AA state championship. They are well coached and throw the ball
as good as anyone in Southwest Virginia.”
Friday’s home opener, at Patterson Stadium at 7 pm, will be electric as Cave
Spring is coached by former Byrd standout Hunter Shepherd and his dad, Robert, is on
the staff. Robert is a long-time Vinton sandlot coach and has coached many of the players
currently on the Byrd varsity and jayvee teams.
It should be an interesting season all-around. The Terriers have established
themselves as a force to be reckoned with in Class 3 and the bar has been set high.
“We want to continue to build on our recent success, but every year our success
will be defined differently,” said Lutz. “After graduating 21 seniors we are an
inexperienced and young team this season. I believe we have a playoff caliber team, but
we have to improve each week and build depth.”
