Taylor Stubblefield Making An Impact As Miami’s WR Coach

When Taylor Stubblefield was hired as UM’s wide receivers coach in January, I knew the name sounded familiar. Then I realized it was because Stubbliefield was once WR coach for the Utah Utes, who play just minutes from my home. Though, that’s all I really knew about Miami’s newest hire.

I didn't even realize that Stubbs was a record-setting receiver himself during his playing days at Purdue, setting a then-NCAA record with career 316 receptions. He also finished with 3,629 receiving yards, and was a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award.

Now in Coral Gables, Stubbliefield is wasting no time turning the Hurricanes wide receivers into one of the biggest weapons for Miami.

While he’s had talent when coaching at schools like Utah, Wake Forest, Central Michigan, and others, it’s likely that the group he’s working with right now at UM is the most talented he’s been around.

Jeff Thomas, K.J. Osborn, Mark Pope, among several others, the Hurricanes are loaded with talent at WR, and over spring practice, Stubblefield saw improvement from multiple of receivers.

Thomas is a player who Stubblefield helped come back to Miami, when just months prior, the receiver announced he was transferring to Illinois. Even with Thomas’ troubled past, Stubbs saw what kind of potential JT possesses.

Osborn stood-out in the spring not just as a playmaker on offense, but also a leader and example to his fellow teammates. His most notable moment was pulling in an 80-yard touchdown from Tate Martell in the spring game.

Pope, the former five-star recruit, struggled as a freshman in 2018, catching only one pass, and admitting he had a hard time with the playbook. Though in the spring, it was reported that he had improved immensely, taking a big step as he gears towards his sophomore season.

While Miami has talented WR’s currently, this was also a group that went through its struggles in 2018. More than anything, it was dropped passes that plagued the receivers last year. Just in the Pitt game alone, the Hurricanes WR’s dropped six balls from quarterback N’Kosi Perry.

It’s not just on the field at Greentree where Stubblefield’s presence is being felt, it’s also in recruiting.

Since Taylor was hired in January, Miami has added two WR commits to the 2020 class, Xavier Restrepo and highly-touted Michael Redding III.

“I loved Coach Stubb’s coaching style when I worked with him. He’s very technical and the way that he explained [Dan Enos’] offense is amazing,” Redding told 247Sports after committing.

“Coach Stubbs is an awesome guy, players coach and has a lot of fun with his guys but at the same time he handles business,” said Restrepo when asked about Stubblefield.

It doesn’t end with Restrepo and Redding either for the 2020 class. In late June, former Alabama commit Dazalin Worsham announced he’d be de-committing from the Crimson Tide, shortly after his visit to Miami.

For the 2021 recruiting class, Miami has added four receiver commits since Stubbs’ hiring in January: Romello Brinson, Jacolby George, Kahlil Brantley and Fredrick Eaford.