Utah Will Encounter Familiar Face In Upcoming Rose Bowl
Dec 27, 2022, 4:00 PM | Updated: Dec 28, 2022, 10:30 am
Utah Utes receivers coach Taylor Stubblefield instructs during spring practice in Salt Lake City Tuesday, March 18, 2014. (Photo Cred: Jefferey Allred, Deseret News)
(Photo Cred: Jefferey Allred, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY- If you’ve taken a look around Penn State’s website, you may have stumbled upon a familiar name. Taylor Stubblefield helped coach the Utah wide receivers from 2014-2015 at what many could point to as the start of the Utes’ climb up the Pac-12 ladder. Since 2020, Stubblefield has found a new home with the Nittany Lions and will be facing off with the Utes in the 109th Rose Bowl on January 2, 2023.
The third-year offensive recruiting coordinator and wide receiver coach for Penn State was a standout receiver himself for Purdue through 2001-2004. Stubblefield was a finalist in 2004 for the Biletnikoff Award and earned consensus All-American status before going undrafted in the 2005 NFL Draft.
Stubblefield bounced around the NFL and Canadian Football League for two seasons before hanging them up and going into coaching in 2007.
Prominent Players Stubblefield Has Coached
On his Penn State profile, Stubblefield has a list of six prominent players he’s coached through his career. Three of those spots belong to Utes.
Kaelin Clay, Dres Anderson, and Tim Patrick all appear on Stubblefield’s profile as some of the most prominent players he has coached in his 16-year career.
Clay spent four seasons in the NFL from 2015-2018 spending time with Tampa, Detroit, Baltimore, New York (Bills and Giants), and Carolina. He was also part of the now defunct Salt Lake Stallions of the AAF Spring Football League. Clay ended his career at Utah as a First-Team All-Pac-12 selection and First-Team All-American.
Anderson also bounced around the NFL for four years before participating with the Stallions. His stops included San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, Washington, Indianapolis and Dallas. After the AAF collapsed, Anderson spent two seasons up in Canada with the Toronto Argonauts in 2020 and 2021.
Patrick has been in the NFL since 2017. The early part of his career was spent between Baltimore who first picked him up as a free agent and San Francisco, before finding what feels like a permanent home in Denver. Patrick broke out on the scene during the 2020 season and has since earned a contract extension with the Broncos. Unfortunately, Patrick’s 2022 campaign was stopped before it ever really began after an injury in fall camp ended his season.
Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @BodkinKSLsports
