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The Cory Butler tug-of-war continues on Utah's coaching staff. This week, defense gets a chance.
Butler suited up in black on Monday morning, testing his skills at cornerback. The change comes even as he moved into the top spot at slot receiver on the depth chart. The Utes have been happy with his offensive performance, but there's an admitted bottleneck at slot receiver: Bubba Poole, Britain Covey and Kyle Fulks are all reasonable candidates to see time there.
"We've got lots of depth at that spot and not so much at the corner spot," Kyle Whittingham said. "What he did was very good, but even he feels more naturally comfortable as a corner. That's where he feels he ultimately belongs."
Butler played mostly cornerback at L.A. Harbor College, but the Utes initially slated him as a receiver. Butler told The Tribune after his first practice he sees his future as a corner, but was willing to play on either side of the ball. Coaches expect to determine this week where he will play at the start of the season.
The possibility remains Butler plays a little bit of both. Whittingham said that won't happen right away, however.
"It wouldn't be early in the season, I think that's too much to put on his plate," he said. "But down the road, perhaps."
Whittingham mentioned he thinks Reggie Porter is playing "the best of the corners." Justin Thomas is locked in at the nickel spot. Brian Allen, Casey Hughes and Tavaris Williams are the others who are currently battling for time.
Defense reigns in two-minute drills • In the quarterback battle, there was something of a dead heat at the end of practice on Monday.
Neither Travis Wilson nor Kendal Thompson could move the ball much downfield in two-minute drills.
The defense was swarming against the offense, crowding the backfield and batting passes out of the air. Allen and Andre Godfrey nearly had interceptions on the final drives of practice.
It was the second day with shoulder pads this fall, and Whittingham seemed to be forgiving of the offense's shortcomings.
"We say it every year: The defense is ahead of the offense, especially when the pads come on," he said. "With the pads off, it's hard to tell, but when the pads come on, the first few days typically the defense is ahead."
The offense did have a few highlights during media observation, including catches by Siale Fakailoatonga and a slashing run by Tyler Cooperwood. Safeties coach Morgan Scalley also noted that the secondary could do a better job of coming down with those "near-picks."
"It's one of those deals [with Godfrey] that you're happy because it was fourth down, but you know his intention was to catch it," he said. "You're not happy with that. He's a guy who works on it all the time, so it's unfortunate that he didn't catch it when everyone saw it. But catch it next time."
Utes waiting for "closure" for Hatfield • Embattled cornerback Dominique Hatfield secured a small victory last week when his attorneys announced the university had reviewed his offseason legal run-ins and elected to keep him enrolled in school.
But Hatfield, who still faces a misdemeanor assault charge stemming from a July 5 incident, still hasn't returned to Utah's fold and won't until the case is put to rest at the very least.
"The legal process is still running its course in that situation," Whittingham said. "From a football standpoint, we've got to make sure everything has run its course and we'll reevaluate after everything has been decided and we have closure."
There's no set timeline for his return, if it happens, but Whittingham said the sooner his second case is resolved, the more likely he is to play a role on this year's team. The Utes may also elect to use his redshirt year and bring him back for next season.
If he comes back to the team at all, that is.
Hatfield faces a class B misdemeanor assault charge for an alleged fight in the early morning hours of July 5.
Defense attorney Greg Skordas asked the city justice court to simply issue a summons for Hatfield's arrest and strike an arrest warrant that makes public accusations which are irrelevant to the crime, he said — namely, that Hatfield was rolling a marijuana cigarette when the alleged altercation occurred.
Skordas wrote in a motion to dismiss that "in 33 years of practice, he has never seen the Salt Lake City County Prosecutor's Office issue such a document" as the affidavit and statement of probable cause in support of Hatfield's arrest.
"This attempt to begin litigating the case through the media is beneath the station of a prosecutor, and approaches violation of the Utah Rules of Professional Conduct," he wrote.
City prosecutor Padma Veeru-Collings did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Skordas also said the city affiant's signature is illegible and that if Hatfield's address was unknown (a basis for the warrant), "it is only because he made no effort to obtain it."
A pretrial conference is slated for Sept. 21.
Clint Shepard retires • Senior defensive tackle Clint Shepard is leaving the Utah football program after a medical ailment has prevented him from playing, Whittingham announced.
After waiting for further evaluation last week, Whittingham said Shepard has been suffering from an unspecified ailment the last few months that kept him out of practice. He'll still graduate in December.
"We wish him the best," he said. "It's unfortunate that he won't be able to play for us this fall. It's been ongoing for months, and it's to the point now where he can't do it. He just can't physically play."
Shepard started a few games for the Utes last season, accumulating 15 tackles and 4 tackles for a loss. A West Valley native, Shepard played at Copper Hills High and Snow College before walking on to Utah's squad.
Briefly • The Utes released a depth chart which included several expected moves: Marcus Williams moved into the top spot at free safety; J.J. Dielman moved to right tackle leaving Sam Tevi and Jackson Barton to battle for left tackle; Britain Covey is the starting punt returner. Quietly, Tyrone Smith also slid into back-up at Z receiver for Kenneth Scott. … Whittingham said while Jason Whittingham, Jared Norris and Gionni Paul will receive most of the linebacker reps this fall, he's been impressed with back-ups Sunia Tauteoli, Uaea Masina and true freshman Cody Barton.
Twitter: @kylegoon