Why Michael Taaffe delayed NFL dreams to lead Texas in 2025

The plan was simple for Michael Taaffe at the end of the 2024 season. Step one was to win the national championship with the Texas Longhorns, and step two was to declare for the NFL draft alongside Jahdae Barron and Andrew Mukuba.

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Straightforward enough, right? Then Jack Sawyer and TreVeyon Henderson showed up and knocked the Longhorns out of the College Football Playoff in the Cotton Bowl.

The derailment of those plans was why Taaffe was so emotional, and arguably in anguish, in the AT&T Stadium tunnel after the game. Not achieving step one was never a question in Taaffe’s mind, and a 28-14 loss to Ohio State prevented that from even happening.

So what about step two?

“Obviously, things spiraled on social media about me yelling in the tunnel,” Taaffe said Tuesday, made available to the media following UT’s pro timing day. “The thought process in my mind was ‘shoot, I’m declaring for the NFL but we didn’t win the national championship, and I wanted to win the national championship before I left for the NFL. I was like, now I’m here, and I have another year to come back to win a national championship to try to go do it again, but I had already made up my mind to go to the NFL.’

“I had to make that business decision of, I said I came here to win but in my last game, I lost. At the end of the day, I came here to win and that’s what I wanted to do. Then everything, the pros of being here at Texas, enjoying my last year, being with my teammates, and enjoying the process, and letting everything slow down – because I feel like people are always trying to go, go, go, go, go.

“This is a year for me to allow myself to work really hard on myself, but also enjoy what the University of Texas offers, and everything that I get to do at the great state of Texas, on the 40 Acres, but also the network Austin has.”

Taaffe said he spoke with Steve Sarkisian and former UT safeties coach Blake Gideon after the season, and that duo encouraged him to take a moment before deciding. The Longhorns gave their pitch, centered around putting another season of All-American play on tape. Taaffe listened, but still had a decision to make.

“It all made sense with them, it all made sense with myself and the people that help me make decisions in my life and my close circle. Everything made sense to come back,” Taaffe said.

Taaffe is one of three returning starters in the defensive secondary for the 2025 Longhorns along with cornerbacks Malik Muhammad and Jaylon Guilbeau. But gone are his fellow Austinites Mukuba and Barron, two players who helped make up one of the best secondaries in the nation.

Plus, Taaffe was speaking at a pro day that featured 20-plus Longhorns going through drills and testing. Nine from that group were defenders, meaning Texas has stars and contributors who need to rise to the standard of the 2024 defense. That puts a lot of pressure on Taaffe to be a leader in the back end.

“It’s going to be different,” Taaffe said. “You do that rinse and repeat that teams have to do every year. People leave, people come. For me to be a face of familiarity for other guys and then a face for people that have seen somebody do it before and done it pretty well helps some of these other guys.”

Working with new secondary coach Duane Akina, who Taaffe said is “consistent and real” and operates “with one speed,” Taaffe will have to learn how to work with his new assistant coach with another safety in the back end to replace Mukuba. Taaffe has experience with Derek Williams, who is still recovering from injury. That means this spring is an opportunity for Taaffe to learn how to play alongside Jelani McDonald, a player who had praised heaped on him by several of the Horns who participated in pro day.

“I’m really excited to play with him, play by his side, and see how well we can fit together, disguise together, and play different techniques together,” Taaffe said.

With the “rinse and repeat” nature of college football, that means leadership figures are leaving the Longhorns for professional opportunities. Taaffe returns as one of the unquestioned leaders for the 2025 team, but there might not be many around him at this juncture. Is he ready to be the guy when it comes to leadership?

“I’m ready,” Taaffe said. “I don’t think I could say that two years ago when I thought I was ready, but maybe I really wasn’t. But I’m ready. I’ve always said that I’ve wanted this to kind of be somewhat ‘my team.’ I think some of the guys trust me, believe in me, and will listen to me, and that’s all you can want from a teammate perspective.”

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The journey continues for Taaffe and company when they return to the practice field on Thursday as part of efforts made toward winning the 2025 national championship.