The biggest thing is we want to be physical and we want to compete. Sometimes we can just be OK with being mediocre and that’s not good enough. We want to see guys fighting their butts off every day to compete to be the best they can be. Today, we got better. – Utah receivers coach Taylor Stubblefield
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah wide receiver Kenneth Scott may have the most recognizable name and the most impressive résumé, but the senior said he learns as much from the younger, less experienced receivers as he shares with them.
“I watch everybody and everybody’s technique because I try to take something away from everybody,” Scott said. “So when I’m watching their technique, I may give them advice, but they do the same thing for me.”
While coaches have asked Scott to provide offensive leadership this season, especially to the team’s mostly inexperienced receivers, he said he’s just trying to be a better version of himself.
“They want me to be the spark of the team, of the offense, to pick everybody up,” he said. “Just be more of a vocal leader.”
He said in some ways, that role is comfortable to him.
“I’m very emotional out there,” he said, smiling. “But I don’t like to tell people, ‘Man, you’re doing that wrong.’”
But he understands that his experience can help the team, and he’s willing to share what he knows, what works for him. He is also the kind of leader, however, who's humble enough to see what others do well, to point that out while relentlessly improving his own skills.
Proof of his unique leadership style was evident Saturday after the team’s first practice in pads. Nearly 20 minutes after practice had ended, he and junior receiver Delshawn McClellon stood amid groups of visiting recruits and media members working on techniques that Scott believes will help him better evade opposing defenders.
“We were working on my release, teaching me to be more lateral,” he said. “Because as a bigger guy, (defensive backs) love when a guy just comes to them.”
He noticed that McClellon’s “release” was impressive, so he asked for insight.
“I’m trying to add that part into my game,” he said. “That’s being observant and trying to take a little piece of what they do.”
The receivers were one of the biggest question marks for Utah as they opened spring camp Tuesday. After three practices, coaches are impressed with how quickly they’re improving.
When asked if he thought there were any standouts in Saturday’s practice, head coach Kyle Whittingham chose a couple of young receivers: redshirt freshman Raelon Singleton and true freshman Tyrone Smith.
“(Singleton) continues every single day to — now, he wasn’t perfect today, he had a couple of drops — he continues to create separation and make plays, and that’s encouraging,” Whittingham said. “As does Tyrone Smith.”
Whittingham wasn't the only one singing the praises of the receivers, specifically Singleton.
"We've got some new guys really coming along," said co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Aaron Roderick. "Raelon has been really showing up already out here, and so has Tyrone Smith. Kenneth Scott is hurt right now, but we all know what Kenneth Scott and Tim Patrick are all about. Delshawn made a couple of good plays today, and Bubba Poole and Troy McCormick are also really good receivers playing a lot at wide receiver. By fall we'll have enough guys to throw to and our tight ends are good too."
Singleton said he is enjoying the chance to prove himself after recovering from his second shoulder surgery last fall.
“I still got improvement to do, still got some work to do, but I feel good,” he said. “My shoulder feels better.”
He said he landed on his shoulder “wrong” his junior year in high school and was plagued by pain after that. He said this spring is the best it’s felt in years.
Singleton said Scott is an impressive leader and that he “takes mental reps from him all the time.”
The most valuable lesson he’s learned from Scott so far?
“Fatigue,” he said. “Never get tired. He always stays on me, tells me to keep pushing. …(Saturday) was a grind. Everything together, the packages are a real, real grind. It’s different from high school.”
Receivers coach Taylor Stubblefield said this season actually mirrors the situation the team faced last year with Dres Anderson as the big-name receiver and others hoping to make their mark.
“The biggest thing is we want to be physical and we want to compete,” he said. “Sometimes we can just be OK with being mediocre and that’s not good enough. We want to see guys fighting their butts off every day to compete to be the best they can be. Today, we got better.”
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