Knoch’s Tyler Buterbaugh helped Mercyhurst football make FCS jump. He hopes his next jump is to NFL
Mercyhurst’s football program made the leap from Division II to the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision prior to this season. The Lakers could’ve looked elsewhere to bolster their linebacking corps.
But with Tyler Buterbaugh already there, they didn’t see a need to.
“He’s one from an athletic standpoint and all the tangibles you’re looking for out of a linebacker at high-level Division II, FCS program,” Mercyhurst coach Ryan Riemedio said. “He fit the bill as soon as we made this jump.”
Buterbaugh, a Knoch graduate, rewarded that trust, finishing his Lakers odyssey with a senior season of 64 tackles, two passes defended, a forced fumble and an interception.
Buterbaugh suited up once more as a collegian at the FCS National Bowl in Daytona Beach earlier this month. The all-star game features mostly FCS players and draws scouts from NFL teams. Buterbaugh hopes to play professionally.
“It gave him an idea of kind of the type of people he’s going to be playing against,” Riemedio said. “It taught him how to prepare at that type of level. When football is your job, it becomes a little bit different. ... He’s one guy that learns a lot by experience.”
“I feel like it was good for me in learning different areas — how to react to different things, learn new playbooks, things like that,” Buterbaugh said.
His career began as a walk-on, though he had offers from other schools and said Clarion and Robert Morris were his other two main options.
“We were so (full) with scholarship linebackers that he took a chance on himself, and everything happens for a reason,” Riemedio said. “He’s one of those feel-good stories that if you just trust the process ... and believe in yourself, good things happen.”
“When I came in as a young guy, I didn’t know really how to view being a walk-on,” Buterbaugh said. “I just kind of put my head down and tried to work as hard as I could. ... I felt that I could play with anybody just due to my natural instinct.”
Among those that were once ahead of Buterbaugh on Mercyhurst’s depth chart were Seneca Valley graduate Jacob Holl and Thomas Zacharyasz, both All-PSAC honorees. Buterbaugh was able to learn from their leadership and habits before they graduated.
“Once they get a feel for the game and understand the playbook, the sky’s the limit,” Riemedio said. “He’s definitely taken full advantage of that. ... He did what he needed to do, waited his time, all those different things. But these last two years, he’s definitely what they call exploded on the field when it comes to his opportunities.”
“They actually molded me into the player that I am today,” Buterbaugh said of Holl and Zacharyasz. “They always stressed to never take a rep off. I feel like their mentality really rubbed off on me.”
That was a large part of the reason why Riemedio didn’t reach into the transfer portal for other linebackers to guide the Lakers into the Northeast Conference. Buterbaugh was a second-team All-PSAC West honoree in 2023.
“There is a lot of intricate things that you need to learn,” Riemedio said. “We’ve had some really good guys that have put in the time and have been here for 4-5 years that I felt very comfortable making this jump to FCS.”
Buterbaugh is training with the hopes of making a pro roster. The NFL draft will be held April 24-26, and undrafted free agents can sign with teams after that.
His backup plan is to head to chiropractic school near New York’s Finger Lakes. He hopes to push that off for a while.
“I hope I can get that chance to play at the next level or maybe even try out for a team, get a pro day, something like that,” Buterbaugh said. “That would be great. But we’ll just see how the cards fall.”
