2023 Daily Chronicle Football Player of the Year: Sycamore’s Burke Gautcher

Burke Gautcher led Sycamore with 70 tackles. He had four interceptions. Even though he was a defensive back, he had 10 tackles for a loss. And just a junior, he’s already committed to Iowa, which wants him to shift to linebacker.

He did all this while pulling double duty as the team’s starting quarterback for the first time at the varsity level. And before last season, he had never played defense.

“It kind of came back to me pretty quickly this year, going from receiver to quarterback,” Gautcher said. “As far as defense, I felt like I was more comfortable with learning everything, tackling, stuff like that.”

He helped Sycamore to a 9-2 record this season, a fifth straight playoff appearance and a second-round berth. He was named the 2023 Daily Chronicle Football Player of the Year.

Gautcher’s numbers were almost as sparkling on offense, where he switched to quarterback after playing receiver as a sophomore. At the lower levels he was a quarterback, but this was his first season back under center.

He completed 60% of his passes for 1,084 yards, 12 touchdowns and two interceptions. He also ran for 589 yards, averaging 9.5 yards per carry and scoring six times.

Coach Joe Ryan said he was impressed with the season Gautcher had, particularly playing two important positions for the Spartans – with Ryan calling safety the quarterback of the defense.

“I think he had a really, really good year, and that’s hard because you’re jumping into quarterback and safety,” Ryan said. “Those are two of the most important positions we have on our team. Both are basically quarterback positions. Everyone thinks it’s an easy transition for him going to quarterback, but there’s a lot asked of our quarterbacks. Sometimes it doesn’t seem that way, but there’s a lot asked.”

Ryan said Gautcher was able to manage his game. Even though he was pretty much always on the field, he took it in and never really rushed, letting the game come to him whether he was going for an interception or avoiding a pass rush.

“A lot of times you have a young quarterback, they’re running in the huddle, trying to get things done,” Ryan said. “He always had complete control of our huddle, and it showed. He always had complete control in the things he did. That’s easier said than done. I know we have a lot of expectations, we talk about it all the time, what he has in the future. But playing that position at the varsity level for the first time, that’s a lot to ask.”

Gautcher already has committed to the University of Iowa to continue his football career. He said the coaching staff has told him he projects as a linebacker when he joins them for the 2025 season, yet another new position.

He said he’s excited for the opportunity to make the jump to linebacker. He also said that, even though he’s only played defense for two years, he is really enjoying it.

“I’ve played quarterback since I was really young, so it has a special place in my heart,” Gautcher said. “But I’m really starting to like defense these past couple of years. I prefer defense, I guess you could say.”

As good as Gautcher was defensively this year, Ryan said his ceiling is even higher. There’s a lot of technical things on both sides of the ball, like carrying out fakes, reading underneath coverage and coming downfield at the proper angle that he can get even better at.

”We already know his athleticism,” Ryan said. “But he starts doing those things even better, and that’s just going to make him an even better player.”