In the search for the breakout player of this spring training, the Hawaii football team is drawing a blank.
In each of the first nine spring practices, the receiver with the numberless white jersey — Devan Stubblefield — is making catches that are routine, acrobatic or routinely acrobatic.
Stubblefield is expected to be reassigned his No. 9 jersey when training camp opens in July. But for now, head coach Nick Rolovich is adhering to his policy of not allowing single-digit numbers for spring practices.
“I saw a blank jersey in my locker one day,” Stubblefield said. “I thought, ‘I guess they want me to wear it.’ For spring ball, Coach Rolo doesn’t want any single numbers. You have to earn it.”
Stubblefield, who will be a fifth-year senior this fall, is making a case for significant action in the Rainbow Warriors’ run-and-shoot offense. Last year’s starting wideouts, Keelan Ewaliko and Ammon Barker, graduated in December. The Warriors’ base offense has expanded from three-receiver formations to four-wide sets. Saint Louis School employed similar offensive concepts when Stubblefield was an All-State wideout in 2013.
Stubblefield remains cautiously hopeful. There was chatter Stubblefield would contend for a UH starting job as a true freshman in 2014. But in the first practice of training camp, he suffered a torn ACL in his left knee, ending his first UH season before it began.
“I took a bad step,” Stubblefield said. “It was a non-contact cut. It was a wrap from there. … That’s the thing about ACLs. All it takes is one bad step. You cut hard, you step the wrong way, and there goes your ACL.”
In 2015, Stubblefield played in 12 games, starting eight, and led the Warriors with four touchdown catches.
“Leading into the next season, I was out there running, sprinting, diving, making plays after balls in fall camp,” Stubblefield said. “But then I had some swelling in my (left) knee one day. The doc told me to check it out. Unfortunately, it was another torn ACL to the same knee. The crazy part is I didn’t even feel the pain. That was a testament to the amount of pain I can handle.”
Stubblefield said accepting a medical retirement was not an option.
“They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results,” Stubblefield said, smiling. “But I love this game. I love my team.”
Stubblefield missed the entire 2016 season. In 2017, he played in four games, with his lone catch coming in the regular-season finale against Brigham Young.
“It’s been a process,” Stubblefield said. “That’s the one thing I tell guys who have (ACL injuries). … Getting back on the field is one thing. (Another thing is) being able to play confidently, trusting yourself and your ability to go up after balls.”
In this latest comeback, Stubblefield has embraced one-day goals.
“It’s all about staying consistent right now and stacking up days and making plays every day and bouncing back,” Stubblefield said. “Everybody has bad days. That’s the nature of sports. After I drop the ball, I try to get back to the next-time kind of thing. Confidence is getting back, for sure. I just hope I can make some plays for my team this year.”
