Penn State assistant Taylor Stubblefield returns to Purdue

Sep. 1—Taylor Stubblefield has been a college football assistant since 2007, but Thursday night will be very unique for him.

The 40-year-old Stubblefield will coach inside Ross-Ade Stadium for the first time when Penn State takes on Purdue, where he starred as a wide receiver from 2001-04.

He's in his third season on James Franklin's Penn State staff working with the wide receivers, of course. Thursday night will be a homecoming for him.

"I do truly look at it as just another opponent," Stubblefield said. "We often talk about the 1-0 mentality. It's not about them. It's about us. This game has nothing to do with me. It really doesn't."

Stubblefield enjoyed an outstanding career at Purdue, finishing with a then-NCAA record 325 receptions for 3,629 yards and 21 touchdowns.

Playing with quarterback Kyle Orton, he made 89 catches for 1,095 yards and 16 TDs as a senior in 2004, when he was named a consensus All-American, a first-team All-Big Ten pick and a Biletnikoff Award finalist.

He mostly deflected questions this week about his return to Purdue, except when he was asked about former Boilermakers assistants Ted Gilmore, Kevin Sumlin and Bob DeBesse, who helped inspire him to pursue coaching.

DeBesse was the best man at Stubblefield's wedding and as the offensive coordinator at New Mexico was influential in the Lobos hiring him in 2012. DeBesse was the Purdue receivers coach from 2003-04.

"You have a unique opportunity as a coach because you're around these guys (players) a lot," Stubblefield said. "You become more of a mentor to them. That's what Coach DeBesse was for me. Even now we talk quite a bit.

"The relationship has grown from coach-player to flat-out friends. He's meant a lot to me. I've bounced almost every idea off him. He's just been there for me."

Stubblefield said he first became interested in coaching by watching his father, Mel, guide the girls basketball team and serve as a football assistant at A.C. Davis High School in Yakima, Wash.

"I probably had it (the coaching bug) at an early age," he said. "My brother is a junior college basketball coach at Bellevue College in Seattle. It's probably more ingrained in my family than I know.

"I did think at one point in college that I would either get into the business side, which I did a little bit as a mortgage broker for a year and a half, or I was going to be a coach. The housing market kind of crashed in 2008, so it kind of helped me lean into this profession."

Stubblefield seemed more intent about talking about how Penn State receivers Parker Washington, KeAndre Lambert-Smith, Mitchell Tinsley and others perform Thursday than about his return to his alma mater.

"I'm excited to see my guys play," he said. "There are going to be some new faces all across the board. It's going to be an electric environment."