Will Matthews and Michael Taaffe: Becoming the Defense's QB

Stepping into the role of veteran leader isn’t easy—but it’s exactly where Texas standout Michael Taaffe now finds himself. In this conversation, Taaffe opens up about the shift from being the young player looking up to others, to being the voice teammates now turn to. He shares how confidence has grown inside the locker room, what it means to play from the front instead of as the underdog, and why leadership is about knowing the personalities around you. Beyond stats and accolades, he talks about chasing “significance”—leaving behind a legacy remembered by teammates, coaches, and everyone in the program. As he enters his final season, gratitude and perspective drive him, reminding us what makes the journey special.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now it's your team. All the older guys are gone.
You are the older guy now, and how does that feel?

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Yeah, it feels cool.

Speaker 3 (00:09):
I mean, you know, when new people come on campus,
it's like, geez, I'm old. But it's been cool as
far as the team. Like when you have people that
trust you and respect you and believe in you and
listen to you when you talk, that means a lot.

(00:30):
Because I was the guy that was looking up, you know,
back in the day. So now that I am the guy,
it's been really cool. When just try to be an
disciple in the locker room and spread what I know
and spread all the knowledge that I can.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
So Coach started talked about how fun and funny you
guys are, but when I interact with you, there is
a confidence. Of course it is fun and funny, but
there's a focus and a confidence. Where do you think
that that has really started to explode inside of the team.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (00:58):
I try to tell people like, you're at Texas for
a reason. No matter what people say around the country,
Texas is the definition of success. If you look around,
I mean, we're in a room of all these trophies,
and so you belong here.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
So go out and play like it.

Speaker 3 (01:15):
You should have confidence knowing that you're better than the
guy right across from you, because you're you gotta believe that.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
So over the last couple of years, Texas had to
play the underdog card. Yeah, you know, like you know,
we're the we gotta get up there, and you know,
if you guys are here right now, what does it
mean to not have the underdog card and to be
playing from the front and be like, hey, we're number one,
We got to do our thing.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah, it feels good.

Speaker 3 (01:44):
But at the end of the day, like I kind
of like being the underdog. So if people have that
same attitude, good, If people have the confidence attitude, good
run with both of them. I think as a leader,
you got to know who you're trying to lead, you know, like,
is it a guy that's a little bit shy, is
a guy that's overly confident?

Speaker 2 (02:04):
How where do you want to balance him out? You know?

Speaker 3 (02:06):
And so you just got to know your personnel and
attack it how you want to.

Speaker 1 (02:10):
If you played a couple of snaps here, you spend
a couple of years here, what is the legacy that
you are looking to leave after this year?

Speaker 2 (02:19):
Significance? However, that may be go into that.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
You gotta go what is significance?

Speaker 2 (02:24):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (02:24):
Yeah, I don't know what that is right now, whatever
God has in store for me, but I know that
when my name gets brought up, I want it to
be not somebody that's remembered for twenty picks, not some
guy that's remembered for one hundred and five tackles, but
a guy that's remembered as significance, how his teammates remember him,

(02:45):
how the coaches remember him, how the custodian remembers him.
And also a winner. So as much as I want
to be significant, I also want to be a winner.

Speaker 1 (02:56):
And as we move into the last season for Michael
to have and you get to just really kind of
look at the whole thing.

Speaker 2 (03:06):
What are going to be the things that you take
with you? Oh?

Speaker 3 (03:09):
Man, I think I think I try to rush it
too much my first four years and this last year
deciding to come back, what I told myself and what
I keep telling myself every day is be so grateful
for it.

Speaker 2 (03:24):
Not a lot of times in your life.

Speaker 3 (03:26):
Again, are you gonna get free three meals a day,
free treatment, free recovery, and.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
Yeah, free shoes, free apparel, h

Speaker 3 (03:39):
And by the way, you're living out your dream going
to play in that field in front of one hundred
and five thousand fans, So just trying to be grateful
for it all.