He’s a special kid in a good way. It’s going to be great to see him develop and continue to really try to perfect his craft. – Utah receivers coach Taylor Stubblefield
SALT LAKE CITY — With his agility and speed, Cory Butler is a commodity on the gridiron.
So it wasn’t a surprise to him when he learned this week he would enter his first day with the Utah Utes as a slot receiver in the offense instead of a cornerback on the defense as he was recruited to be.
“When I first committed, the offensive coaches wanted me to play offense and the defensive coaches wanted me to play defense — coach (Kyle Whittingham) just wanted me to come,” Butler said, following his first practice with the Utes on Thursday. In the end, the offensive coaches won and Butler, a four-star junior college transfer from Los Angeles Harbor College, fell in the hands of the offense to fill a slot receiver need.
“They told me I was going to play defensive back in the beginning, but I figured our defense is pretty much stacked, so I kind of prepared myself to play offense. When I was at home I was practicing for both to be prepared for whatever they do with me.”
In addition to playing nine games as a cornerback and picking off five passes, Butler caught 10 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown as a receiver last season in junior college. He also led his team with a 24.7-yard average on kick returns.
In his first practice as a Ute, he looked sharp catching a few passes in the 20-minute media observation session. Of course, he’ll have to battle with several other players for playing time when the season opens Sept. 3 against Michigan. In fact, there are currently 14 receivers on the roster.
However, the receiver spot is a position without much clarity heading into Thursday’s first practice, especially with a pair of former standouts, Dres Anderson and Kaelin Clay, graduated from last year’s team.
While only one practice is in the books and much is still to be determined, Taylor Stubblefield, Utah’s wide receivers coach, is looking forward to Butler’s progression throughout camp.
“He’s a special kid in a good way,” Stubblefield said. “It’s going to be great to see him develop and continue to really try to perfect his craft.”
Butler said he’s received plenty of help already from the coaching staff, but also from senior receiver Kenneth Scott. He said it hasn’t been that much of a difficult transition, given his training for both offense and defense in the offseason.
“I pretty much developed a good football IQ, so picking up the plays wasn’t really that hard,” Butler said. “I had coach (Stubblefield) helping me every rep, telling me what to do, how to switch my routes and everything, but I pretty much picked it up.”
He added he hopes to use his speed to help the offense stretch the field out and hit those explosive “home run” type plays that every team covets.
As much as he could see time as a receiver, Butler could also very easily return to the defensive side of the ball before the season starts. He was recruited to Utah by cornerbacks coach Sharrieff Shah, who admitted he’s still fighting to getting Butler back to playing cornerback, but understands that he will play wherever he’s needed.
“Don’t be surprised to see him at different times throughout the fall camp maybe taking a few defensive reps,” Shah said. “We just have to be prepared for the inevitable. What’s the reality in this conference is that it’s long and it’s hard and people get beat up. The team that has the most depth typically comes out on top.”
Shah said he sees plenty of talent in Butler on either side of the ball.
“He played both in college and was outstanding,” Shah said. “He’s a phenomenal football player and I just thought he had the skill set to do what we need him to do, given the schemes that we run on defense.”
If there is another facet of the game Butler will be working on during fall camp, it will be his potential as a punt returner.
“I know everyone expects a high level of play from me at punt returner, but I’ve never really done it before,” he said. But with his experience as a kick returner at the junior college level, he could see time as a special teams returner this season.
Wherever he ends up, whether he remains at receiver or returns to the defensive secondary, Butler said he just hopes to contribute in any way possible.
“I’m willing to do whatever I can to help the team.”