Why the return of Michael Taaffe to Texas is so important

On Tuesday evening, Texas safety Michael Taaffe made it known he would return to college for his final year. This happened during Texas’ five-day declaration window in which, so far, he’s the only Texas player to return. Gone to the NFL early are Kelvin Banks, Cameron Williams, Isaiah Bond, Matthew Golden, and Jaydon Blue.

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Back is Taaffe. 

I view his return as a prerequisite for Texas sustaining excellent defense in 2025, particularly in the secondary. Below are a number of reasons why.

He’s good at football

First and foremost, Taaffe is a good football player. He was a good football player at Westlake and he was a good football player upon his arrival at Texas. Once he took to the practice field people almost immediately viewed him differently than most walk-ons. With continued development he forced his way onto the field and first became a reliable player before becoming a good one. 

Look at all the safeties Texas lost before this season and look at who it retained and elevated to full-time starter. Stars matter on a macro level but Taaffe is a reminder they don’t matter nearly as much on a micro level.

After this season he was recognized as a second-team All-American by the AP.

Leadership within a young room

Losing both Jahdae Barron and Taaffe in the same offseason would have dealt a major blow to leadership in the secondary. Make no mistake, there are players at corner and safety with leadership traits, those players are just on the younger side. Leadership comes with experience and play-making.

Barron and Taaffe’s personalties worked perfectly in concert with Barron more as the cool older brother and Taaffe as the coach.

Taaffe as the coach certainly showed up on the field with Texas’ level of animated communication. Communication is perhaps the most underrated aspect of DB play to fans.

In the last two classes, Texas has ushered in a lot of talent at safety. There’s nobody better than Taaffe to help assimilate those players into the program, into the schemes, and onto the field. 

It is much more likely the staff will feel comfortable trotting out five-star all-world safety Jonah Williams, who will focus on baseball in his first spring instead of football, with Taaffe right next to him.

Makes it easy for staff to be versatile in back-end

Taaffe excelled in coverage and was good in run support until the last few games where he struggled a bit. However, he can play either safety spot and can hover around the box or deep. 

His loss would have handicapped some of the personnel shifts the staff likes to make, like playing Jelani McDonald at Star (nickel) against teams that run the ball well. Depending on how younger players develop, losing Taaffe might have kept the staff from playing McDonald at Star, especially with the talented Derek Williams coming off of injury. 

Hypothetically: what if the staff wants to try Jaylon Guilbeau at corner? IT has heard he can play it. Maybe not like Barron, but he can play it. Due to the cascade effect of Taaffe returning, the staff may be more inclined to try Guilbau at corner and play McDonald at Star. We’re not saying that will happen but you want the staff to have as many arrows in the quiver as possible.

Secondary play can’t fall off if Texas has championship aspirations

One could make an easy argument that play in the secondary was the No. 1 driver of team-wide success this season. They were lockdown pretty much start to finish. Logic dictates you want as many of those pieces to remain in place as possible. 

If communication is the most underrated aspect of DB play, experience is second, and the two go hand in hand. Taaffe’s return comes with a ton of experience and removes projection for how safety will perform in 2025.

Force multiplier with pass-rush makes for defensive identity

Texas’ defensive identity should once again center on pressure on the quarterback making life easier on the secondary and quality coverage making it easier to get pressure. 

Texas finished the season tied with BYU for most interceptions (22), albeit in more games. Texas finished 16th in the country with 46 sacks. When you look at who Texas has returning up front (second-year Colin Simmons!), it’s not hard to see that sack number being eclipsed in 2025. 

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With Taaffe’s return, the secondary might finish in the same neighborhood when it comes to interceptions.