Taylor Evans Stubblefield (born January 21, 1982) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and former player who is the

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

s coach for the

Air Force Falcons The Air Force Falcons are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the United States Air Force Academy, located in El Paso County, Colorado north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs. Th ...

. He played professionally as a wide receiver for the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

and

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He left

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

owning the most receptions in

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) history. Stubblefield was most recently the wide receivers coach with the Toronto Argonauts. A three-sport athlete at A.C. Davis High School, Stubblefield committed to the

to play

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

for the

Boilermakers A boilermaker is a Tradesman, tradesperson who Metal fabrication, fabricates steels, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.Bure ...

. In his collegiate debut in 2001, he had five receptions for 65 yards. He led the team in receptions and was named to the All-Freshman

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

team by ''

Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

''. During his sophomore season, he finished with 77 receptions for 789 yards, but didn't record a touchdown catch. As a junior in 2003, Stubblefield earned second-team All-Big Ten honors at the conclusion of the season. In the

2001 Sun Bowl The 2001 Wells Fargo Sun Bowl edition to the Sun Bowl featured the Washington State Cougars, and the Purdue Boilermakers. Washington State's Jason David scored the game's first touchdown on a 45-yard interception return for a 7–0 WSU lead. Wa ...

, he had nine catches for a Sun Bowl-record 196 yards. During the 2004 season, Stubblefield was a

Biletnikoff Award The Fred Biletnikoff Award is presented annually to the most outstanding receiver in American college football by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc. (TQCF), an independent not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. The award was creat ...

finalist, earned first-team All-Big Ten honors and was named a consensus

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

.He concluded his college career with an NCAA record of 325 receptions, which he held for seven years, 3,629 yards, and 27 touchdowns. He was inducted into the Purdue Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015 and was also named to the 75th Anniversary Sun Bowl Team. Despite his college success, Stubblefield was not selected in

2005 NFL draft The 2005 NFL draft, the 70th in league history, took place on April 23 and 24, 2005 NFL season, 2005. The draft was held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City and was televised for the 26th consecutive year, with coverage on E ...

. He signed as an undrafted

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

with the

and then signed with the

Hamilton Tiger-cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

. During the 2006 season he was signed by the St. Louis Rams and later was re-signed by the Tiger-cats. When the 2007 season came around, Stubblefield hung up his cleats and returned to his home state of

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, where he was named the wide receivers coach for

Central Washington University Central Washington University (CWU) is a public university in Ellensburg, Washington, United States. Founded in 1891, the university consists of four divisions: the President's Division, Business and Financial Affairs, Operations, and Academi ...

. The following season, he took the same position with

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal school (teachers' ...

, while also working towards his master's degree. For the 2009 and 2010 seasons, he was asked by former Purdue Defense Coordinator

Brock Spack Brock D. Spack (born January 5, 1962) is an American college football coach. He is the head football coach at Illinois State University, position he has held since December 2008. Previously, he was the defensive coordinator at Purdue University ...

to take the wide receivers coaching position at

Illinois State Illinois State University (ISU) is a public research university in Normal, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University and is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching ...

. For the Redbirds, Stubblefield coached Eyad Salem, who broke the school's single-season receptions record (92 catches) and twice tied the single-game receptions record with back-to-back 14-catch efforts. Salem was an All- MVFC first-team selection. The next year, he took a job with

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula of the United States, U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said t ...

as their wide receivers coach. After stops at New Mexico and Wake Forest, Stubblefield was hired with a two-year contract at Utah. Utah recorded 9–4, and 10–3 seasons and attended the Las Vegas Bowl both years. Stubblefield's contract was not extended after his original deal and he moved on to coach with the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL for one season before joining Troy Calhoun's staff at the United States Air Force Academy in February 2017.

Early years

Stubblefield was born in

Yakima, Washington Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, United States, and the state's 11th most populous city. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The ...

. He graduated from A. C. Davis High School in Yakima, where he was a member of the football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

teams. For football, he set school records with 123 receptions, 1,900 receiving yards and 21 touchdowns. He also had the school record for receiving yards and receiving touchdowns in a single game, which was broken by

Cooper Kupp Cooper Douglas Kupp (born June 15, 1993) is an American professional football wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Eastern Washington Eagles, winning the Walter Payton ...

in 2011. He was named First Team All-State. He also led the basketball team to the state tournament three times, earning fifth and eighth-place trophies.

College career

Stubblefield attended

, located in

West Lafayette, Indiana West Lafayette ( ) is a city in Wabash and Tippecanoe Townships, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, approximately northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash ...

, where he played under head coach

Joe Tiller Joseph Henry Tiller (December 7, 1942 – September 30, 2017) was an American football offensive lineman and coach. He served as the head coach of the Calgary Stampeders as an interim head coach in 1976, University of Wyoming from 1991 to 1996, ...

. He played alongside future

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

player

Kyle Orton Kyle Raymond Orton (born November 14, 1982) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback. He played college football for Purdue, where he started four straight bowl games. He was selected by the Chicago Bears in the f ...

and consensus All-American kicker-punter

Travis Dorsch Travis Edward Dorsch (born September 4, 1979) is an American former professional football punter who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers, where he won the Ray Guy Award and was re ...

. As a

redshirt freshman Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

he led the Boilermakers with 73 receptions. In the

against

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

, he tied a Sun Bowl record of nine receptions, and set a record with 196 receiving yards. He also scored two touchdowns and recorded a bowl record with a 244 all-purpose yards. He helped lead the Boilermakers to a second straight Sun Bowl appearance in 2002. As a junior in 2003, Stubblefield led the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

with 86 receptions. He totaled 835 yards and three touchdowns. He was a second-team All-Big Ten selection. Stubblefield was named a First Team All-Big Ten selection his senior year (2004), in which he caught 89 passes with 1,095 yards receiving and scored 16 touchdowns, third-most in the nation. He became the first player to lead the conference in receptions two consecutive seasons since

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

David Boston David Byron Boston (born August 19, 1978) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes, earning first-team All-American ho ...

in 1998. The All-American participated in the East-West Shrine All-Star Game, where he had seven receptions for 128 yards and scored two touchdowns, while throwing a pass that led to the first touchdown. He became the first consensus All-American receiver for Purdue since Bernie Flowers in 1952 and earned First Team-All Big Ten honors. With career totals of 3,629 yards and 21 touchdowns, Stubblefield ranked as the all-time

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

receptions leader with 325 in his college career (until it was broken by

Ryan Broyles Ryan Broyles (born April 9, 1988) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners. He set the all-time N ...

of the University of Oklahoma on October 15, 2011). His teammate,

John Standeford John William Standeford (born April 15, 1982) is an American former professional football wide receiver. He played college football at Purdue, and signed with the Washington Redskins as an undrafted free agent in 2004. He was also a member of th ...

, had set the Big Ten Conference record with 266 receptions in 2003. Stubblefield was named to the Sun Bowl's 75th anniversary team.

Statistics

Source: * Numbers in bold are Purdue school records

Professional career

Carolina Panthers

Stubblefield went undrafted by the NFL after his successful college career. He was signed as a

by the

on April 26, 2005.

Hamilton Tiger-cats

He played during the 2005 season with the

in the

St. Louis Rams

On January 6, 2006, Stubblefield was signed to the

Return to the Hamilton Tiger-cats

Stubblefield returned to the Tiger-cats on March 6, 2007.

Coaching career

Central Washington

After a brief stint playing at the professional level, Stubblefield returned to his home state of

, where he served as a wide receiver coach for the Wildcats at

, an NCAA division II program.

Eastern Michigan

After just one season with Central Washington, Stubblefield joined the

staff to become an assistant coach under head coach,

Jeff Genyk Jeffrey George Genyk ( ; born August 22, 1960) is an American football coach and former player. He most recently served as the special teams coordinator for Northwestern. Genyk served as the head football coach at Eastern Michigan University fro ...

Illinois State

After Genyk was replaced by

Ron English Ron English (born June 6, 1959) is an American contemporary artist who explores brand imagery, street art, and advertising. Career English has produced images on the street, in museums, in movies, books and television. He coined the term POPag ...

, Stubblefield moved on to

to be an assistant and wide receiver coach. He joined head coach

, who was a former defensive coordinator at Purdue.

Central Michigan

On February 18, 2011,

announced the addition of Stubblefield as their wide receivers coach.

New Mexico

Stubblefield coached wide receivers for

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

in 2012.

Wake Forest

Stubblefield moved on to Wake Forest in 2013.

Utah

In February 2014, Stubblefield was named the wide receivers coach at

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

University of Miami

Taylor Stubblefield joined the University of Miami football program in January 2019, accepting the position of wide receivers coach.

Penn State

Taylor Stubblefield joined the Pennsylvania State University football program in January 2020, accepting the position of wide receivers coach. In 2020,

Jahan Dotson Jahan Waltè Dotson ( ; born March 22, 2000) is an American professional football wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions and was selected by the ...

led the Big Ten in receiving with 884 yards. Dotson was also tied as the national leader for receptions of over 60 yards (4) and went on to earn honorable mention All-American. Stubblefield also coached Parker Washington to Freshman All American Honors by the athletic. Washington finished the season tied for second nationally among true freshman with 6 touchdown receptions. Following the completion of the 2020 season, Stubblefield was given the additional title of Offensive Recruiting Coordinator. Dotson and Washington both had 820 yards or more receiving in 2021, with Dotson being selected 16th overall in the

2022 NFL draft The 2022 NFL draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual NFL draft, draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, Paradise next to Las Vegas. The first round ...

. Penn State parted ways with Stubblefield in January 2023.

References

External links

Central Michigan profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stubblefield, Taylor 1982 births Living people Air Force Falcons football coaches All-American college football players American football wide receivers Canadian football wide receivers Carolina Panthers players Central Michigan Chippewas football coaches Central Washington Wildcats football coaches Eastern Michigan Eagles football coaches Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Illinois State Redbirds football coaches Players of American football from Yakima, Washington Purdue Boilermakers football players St. Louis Rams players Utah Utes football coaches Wake Forest Demon Deacons football coaches Players of Canadian football from Washington (state) Toronto Argonauts coaches Miami Hurricanes football coaches