CJ Butt enters his first season as defensive coordinator and assistant head coach for the saints in 2025. He also serves as the team's recruiting coordinator.
Before joining the Saints, Butt most recently worked with the Drake Bulldogs as a defensive backs coach and video coordinator and before that as a defensive assistant from 2022-2023. During his time at Drake, he helped coach the Bulldogs to back to back Pioneer Football League titles, resulting in two playoff appearances.
Previously, Butt had a two-year stint at South Dakota State as a defensive graduate assistant primarily working with the Jackrabbit linebackers from 2020-2022. He helped coach SDSU to a Missouri Valley Football Conference championship and an appearance in the 2020 FCS National Title game. Butt later aided the Jackrabbits during their run to an FCS playoffs semi-finals appearance in the fall of 2021, while coaching a pair of All-American linebackers.
The Shrewsbury, Massachusetts native was also a graduate assistant at Sacred Heart from 2018-2020. While with the Pioneers, he worked with the linebacker group and served as video coordinator, playing a part in SHU's 2018 NEC Championship.
As a coach in professional football ranks, Butt worked with the defensive backs of the Arizona Rattlers in the spring of 2018 while also carrying the title of video and scouting intern.
Butt graduated from Kent State in 2017 with a degree in sports administration. He currently resides in the Duluth area with his fiancée Bethany.
