The Utes have filled the vacancy left in the coaching staff with the departure of Brian Johnson to Mississippi State.
The Utah athletics department announced Wednesday that former Wake Forest wide receivers coach Taylor Stubblefield will assume the same position with the Utes.
With the hire, Aaron Roderick will shift to being the quarterbacks coach while head coach Kyle Whittingham will be special teams coordinator. Whittingham indicated in January he may assume those duties.
Now that Stubblefield has been hired, the Utah coaching staff has been completely filled out in preparation for the beginning of spring ball Mar. 18.
“I’m fired up to be at Utah and to work for someone as accomplished as coach Whittingham,” Stubblefield said in a statement. “I couldn’t ask for a better situation with the style of offense (offensive coordinator Dave Christensen) plans to run, which fits my background perfectly. On a personal note, I am from Washington and my family and I are excited to be back out West.”
Stubblefield has been a journeyman since he began his coaching career at Central Washington in 2007. After being there for a season, he went to four other schools before coaching the Demon Deacons in 2013.
The 32-year-old Stubblefield played collegiately at Purdue, where he was an All-American in 2004 and a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award that season. He finished his career with the Boilermakers with an NCAA record 316 catches.
After college, Stubblefield had short stints with the Carolina Panthers and St. Louis Rams of the NFL and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League before beginning his coaching career.
“Taylor was a record-setting college receiver who has developed into a fine coach,” Whittingham said in a statement. “He will be an asset for us both on the field and through his recruiting ties across the country. We are excited to have Taylor join our staff.”
Stubblefield will be helping to lead an offense that finshed the 2013 season in the bottom four of the Pac-12 in every passing statistic. Senior Dres Anderson, who was Utah’s leading wide receiver a year ago, will return in 2014. Also coming back will be junior wideout Kenneth Scott, who missed all but one half of one quarter in 2013 after injuring his ankle in the season opener against Utah State.