Longhorns safety Michael Taaffe shares his story with Texas Exes in Tyler
Michael Taaffe honors those who died at Camp Mystic with special tie during SEC Media Days
On Saturday, he was in East Texas, getting another chance to share his journey.
It was all part of the annual Texas Exes Tyler-Smith County Chapter scholarship dinner, hosted at the Hollytree Country Club.
This event helps raise money for East Texas students.
Every year, they invite a special guest speaker, but Taaffe is the first ever current football player to take part in this ceremony.
Taafe, who played high school ball for Austin Westlake, committed to Rice in 2020, but decided to go to U-T when they offered him a walk-on spot on the 40 acres.
He excelled in his red-shirt freshman season and earned a scholarship before the Alamo Bowl.
Since then, he has been an integral piece in bringing the Longhorns program back to prominence, and an example of what can be accomplished when you take a chance on yourself.
He was also grateful for this opportunity and excited to be here in the pineywoods.
Taaffe and the Longhorns will open the 2025 season with a rematch against last year's national champions, as Texas travels to Columbus, Ohio, to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes.
OSU knocked Texas out of the college football playoff in the semifinal round last year.
These two will kick the season off at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 30, and you can see all the action on FOX51.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
How Greg Schiano built Rutgers football's infrastructure to adapt to changing landscape
As the wayward search for Rutgers' new athletics director appears to finally be close to an end, Greg Schiano's football program will begin training camp having been unaffected and undeterred by what transpired over the last year. The chaos that's engulfed the Rodkin Center hasn't moved across Sutphen Road to infiltrate the Hale Center. And that's not a coincidence. Schiano since he's been back has run his program in his vision with the personnel and infrastructure that he sees fit. As the landscape of college sports – especially college football – has evolved with Name, Image and Likeness, the transfer portal and now revenue sharing, that infrastructure has only become more important. It's also become bigger. But the freedom Schiano has to lead his program without interference has helped insulate it from an AD search that became a punchline nationally – its previous leading candidate, Brian Lafemina, according to NJ Advance Media pulled his name from consideration in recent weeks. The university has now zeroed in on Keli Zinn, the executive deputy director of athletics and chief operating officer at Louisiana State, according to reports. When asked about the long search last week in Las Vegas at Big Ten Media Days, Schiano said he hadn't spent much time worrying about the search. Had it affected anything? 'Not our operation,' said Schiano, who's beginning his sixth season since returning to Rutgers. More: Rutgers is targeting LSU administrator as next athletics director, per reports Rutgers football's infrastructure While it undoubtedly would help Schiano to have an athletics director who could help him raise funds – something he's never had during his second stint – it's not something that's stopping him. Schiano's program has increasingly started to look like an NFL organization. His two years as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2012 and 2013 gave him an up-close, inside look at what it needs. NFL organizations have college personnel and pro personnel to evaluate both groups of players. Schiano's program has groups to evaluate high school players and college players so it's ready to jump when anyone enters the portal. Schiano's been diligent about how he's built the operation. 'Certainly we need more people to help with evaluations but we've kind of reorganized our entire population,' Schiano said. 'My whole thing has always been measure twice and cut once. I don't want to just react, I'd rather be a little bit later and get it right than have to be the first out of gate. I don't want to be last but certainly don't need to be first. I've observed a lot of other people, what they've done. Things I think are good, things that are not. Certainly from my own experience I had an idea of how I wanted to do it.' 'Comfortable with the team we have' Schiano credited the team he's assembled to help lead it: Chief of Staff Kevin MacConnell, assistant general manager for finance Jordan Wolkstein, assistant general manager for personnel Eric Josephs, and assistant athletic director for football Will Gilkison, who helps run the ins and outs of program operations. Wolkstein's role helping to oversee contracts and compensation for players shows just how much college football has changed, but it's also a necessity. When it comes to paying players and roster construction to stay within a budget, that's another area Schiano's time in the NFL helped prepare him for. 'I think it helps a lot,' Schiano said. 'I think it just helps with the comfortability of dealing with finance as it ties to football. I think you have to some discipline. We've had some players that if we could've spent a little more, we could've probably gotten them. To me the most important thing is your own team. You're around them every day, you know who they are. So where you can't afford to make mistakes is on your own team. That's the one you should know. Every time you step outside your organization there's some unknown there.' Every year Schiano's program has evolved. Every year it's looked more and more like a pro organization to adapt to the changes in college football. He's built it in his vision. At some point Rutgers will hire an athletics director, but until it does operations inside the Hale Center continue to run smoothly. 'We really feel comfortable with the team that we have,' Schiano said. 'We do have to continue to strategically add people to build the infrastructure but I want to make sure they're the right people.' This article originally appeared on Rutgers football: Greg Schiano has built program to adapt to changes
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Tennessee sophomore Boo Carter's Rocky Top return '50/50' amid fall camp uncertainty
The Tennessee Volunteers are just days away from kicking off fall camp as they prepare for their season opener against Syracuse. However, an unfortunate situation has overshadowed the team's preseason buzz — and it doesn't involve players gearing up for the field. Sophomore Boo Carter has missed numerous team activities, and it's not sitting well within the program. 'Tennessee sophomore defensive back Boo Carter is expected to be one of the Volunteers' best players in 2025 on defense, offense and special teams, but his status with the team is unclear as we inch closer to August. Carter has missed 'numerous' team activities and was even confronted by team leaders because of his absences, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel,' CBS Sports' Jordan Dajani wrote. Adding to the drama, Carter has also blindsided his former agent. Apparently, the agent didn't even know he'd been replaced, as Carter and his mother have been unresponsive regarding the matter. 'I did represent Boo. However, I'm not sure I still do," Isaac Conner wrote in a text message to CBS Sports. "He has been non responsive and so has his mother. They posted something about Omar Cooper representing him and advising him now." Head coach Josh Heupel has made it clear that no individual is bigger than the Power T — not even himself — and he reportedly wouldn't hesitate to move on from Carter if necessary. If Carter is dismissed from the program, he's already been linked to a Big 12 school. For now, the outcome remains uncertain. 'We'll see how this situation plays out. For now, it feels like it's 50/50 on whether Carter plays for the Volunteers this fall,' A to Z Sports' Zach Ragan wrote. Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp There's no denying that Carter is a vital part of Tennessee's roster, but Heupel isn't known for compromising team standards. Fall camp begins July 30, and Heupel is expected to meet with the media beforehand to address lingering questions. As it stands, Carter's future with the program is completely up in the air.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Dallas hosts New York following Ionescu's 30-point outing
New York Liberty (17-7, 10-2 Eastern Conference) at Dallas Wings (7-19, 3-12 Western Conference) Arlington, Texas; Monday, 8 p.m. EDT BOTTOM LINE: New York Liberty visits the Dallas Wings after Sabrina Ionescu scored 30 points in the Liberty's 101-99 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks. The Wings are 4-8 in home games. Dallas leads the Western Conference in rebounding, averaging 36.7 boards. Myisha Hines-Allen leads the Wings with 5.3 rebounds. The Liberty are 5-4 on the road. New York leads the Eastern Conference with 21.8 assists. Natasha Cloud paces the Liberty with 5.9. Dallas is shooting 41.5% from the field this season, 0.1 percentage points lower than the 41.6% New York allows to opponents. New York averages 87.9 points per game, 1.3 more than the 86.6 Dallas allows to opponents. The matchup Monday is the first meeting of the season between the two teams. TOP PERFORMERS: Arike Ogunbowale is averaging 16 points and 3.9 assists for the Wings. Paige Bueckers is averaging 15.0 points over the last 10 games. Cloud is averaging 10.4 points and 5.9 assists for the Liberty. Ionescu is averaging 18.9 points over the last 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Wings: 3-7, averaging 82.3 points, 36.4 rebounds, 20.8 assists, 7.1 steals and 4.1 blocks per game while shooting 42.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 89.0 points per game. Liberty: 6-4, averaging 88.1 points, 33.1 rebounds, 22.0 assists, 8.5 steals and 5.2 blocks per game while shooting 45.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 84.2 points. INJURIES: Wings: Maddy Siegrist: out (knee), Tyasha Harris: out for season (knee). Liberty: Nyara Sabally: out (knee). ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
