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Football: Bubba Poole stays motivated through position change

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Utah’s Bubba Poole likes to stay motivated. Whether he is fighting for his life or fighting for something as simple as a jersey number, Poole always finds something to keep him going.

When Poole was just one-year old, someone attempted to rob his family in his home at the time. During the robbery, there was a dispute over a gun, which resulted in him being shot twice as a young child. Although he himself cannot recall this instance, Poole said this is something that pushes him to do better each and every day.

“I’m blessed to be here,” Poole said. “Everything I do I know I’m doing it for a purpose and that’s been my motivation. There’s a lot of people with disabilities who can’t play football for whatever reason. Everyday, knowing that I’m even alive, let alone playing football, just encourages me.”

On the field, Poole’s jersey is a constant reminder to aim higher.

“I spoke to Coach Whitt a little before spring started [about switching numbers],” Poole said.”I just had to wait for the jersey to come, and I got No. 8 specifically with Kaelin [Clay] and Nate [Orchard]. I wanted to wear that number to do what they did, and top that.”

In addition to switching numbers, Poole has made the switch from running back to wide receiver this spring. Getting used to a new position is not an easy task, and Poole believes he has a lot of room to improve. He hopes to learn some of the specific technique to not only improve himself and the team, but to get his new wide receiver coach Taylor Stubblefield to stop taunting him.

“I kind of do things as if I were still a running back,” Poole said. “I want to get to where I look like a receiver. [Stubblefield] jokes around and says, ‘I’m a running back playing receiver,’ so I don’t want that anymore. It’s really a technique thing.”

Among a few others, one of the reasons why Poole is making the switch to receiver was because of the late-season emergence of speedster Troy McCormick in 2014. But last week, McCormick went down with a “severe injury”, according to Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham, and Poole will most likely be forced to go back to his backup running back slot behind Devontae Booker.

However, despite playing running back for each of his seasons as a Ute, Poole hopes the switch is permanent, as he feels there are a lot of more opportunities to have the ball in his hands as a slot back compared to a running back.

But this is not the reason he wants to continue at this position.

“I played running back my whole life and every time I get a chance to play receiver, there’s something about it,” Poole said. “I like the feel for it, especially slot.”

Whittingham said there are still some things Poole can get more familiarized with, but that he is well on his way there.

“Time will tell, but he’s on an upward trend without a doubt,” Whittingham said. “He’s got a lot to learn, there’s a lot of subtle nuances at that position. He’s going to have to continue to work at it. He has the right attitude and has really embraced his role at the slot position.”

Poole thinks his quick adjustment to wide receiver is partly due to the fact he is constantly working with whatever quarterback he can.

“I’m constantly working with the quarterbacks on the off days,” Poole said. “[I’m] catching balls from a couple different quarterbacks just to get that throw-and-catch down with each quarterback. Starting to get better and things are starting to come together with me and all the different quarterbacks.”

This week, Poole was listed as number one on the depth chart for the slot back position, but he is not trying to focus on it all too much. Instead, he wants to continue to stay motivated, live his life day-by-day and keep improving.

“[I’m] playing the role as if I’m still working and competing for a position,” Poole said. “It’s great and everything to know that, but I just use it to push myself, so I don’t get complacent.”

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@kbrenneisen

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