Michael Taaffe placed on scholarship
One of everyone’s favorite moments in college football comes when a hard-working walk-on within the football program is awarded a scholarship for their efforts. That moment came for Texas safety Michael Taaffe recently in an announcement captured on video and shared on social media.
All walk-ons have to work hard and don’t necessarily receive much of a reward for their sacrifices for the program, many never getting the chance to letter and earn the coveted “T-ring” which letterman who graduate from the University of Texas will proudly wear for their adult lives.
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Taaffe is actually a fairly unique walk-on. He was only a redshirt freshman in 2022 yet had already moved well beyond the “scout team warrior” role most walk-ons achieve and was a regular fixture in the secondary’s two-deep.
This wasn’t necessarily shocking, Taaffe’s high school career at Westlake was rather distinguished. He was a two-year starter for them at cornerback on State Championship teams in 2019 and 2020. In the later title he made an eye-catching interception against current teammate Quinn Ewers.
As a recruit Taaffe had offers from Ivy League Brown University, Colgate, and Rice but chose to accept a roster spot in Austin as a preferred walk-on for the Longhorns.
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He redshirted in 2021 and eventually moved to safety. In 2022 he was on the two-deep early in the season when Jahdae Barron was out with injury, backing up freshman Jaylon Guilbeau at the “Star” position (nickel). When Barron returned Taaffe also became a rotational player elsewhere in the secondary, filling in for Jerrin Thompson at the boundary safety position and Anthony Cook at field safety. Between the Oklahoma State and Iowa State games where Texas was hampered by injuries he played all three positions (Star, field safety, boundary safety) as a reliable stopgap for the Longhorns as they shuffled players around to try and field a winning secondary.
His quick mastery of the Texas defense has been huge both in allowing him to backup multiple positions as well as to help communicate to teammates on the field. Small wonder he had an Ivy League offer. He finished the season with 25 tackles, .5 tackles for loss, and a pass deflection after appearing in all 12 games.
During the season Taaffe also served as a host for Arch Manning on his recruiting visit, helping the program off the field in building out the roster for the future.
Taaffe has done as much for the Texas football program in two years as a walk-on as many others have done in multiple seasons on scholarship.
