Michael Taaffe Had Some Advice For Arch Manning Amid Struggles

So far this season, Manning has been anything but consistent, following up a 295-yard, five-touchdown performance against San Jose State by completing 44 percent of his passes for just over 100 yards against UTEP.

As a result, Manning has begun to face the ire of the national media, and even some fans.

Fortunately, that's where Taaffe comes in, helping Manning navigate his fame and the stress associated with it.

“I always remind him it’s not like somebody’s dying in his family,” he said. “He’s not going through a lot. I mean, shoot, you miss one throw. What’s the worst thing in the world? So we still have life. We still have smiles on our face. I still get to remind him that I’m better at golf, and he still gets to remind me that he can dunk over me.”

During points where football consumes so much of their time and attention, Taaffe reminds Manning that there are other things worth smiling for. 

After all, Taaffe knows a lot about overcoming failure himself.

Taaffe on overcoming failure

Taaffe didn’t see any game action during the first year of his tenure with Texas, which, for some, would indicate that the program might not be the right fit. 

However, his desire to be a Longhorn outweighed this lack of playtime. The safety appeared in 13 games with one start during his redshirt freshman year, played in all 14 games with nine starts his sophomore year and started in 16 games and earned 2024 Associated Press All-American Second Team recognition last season.

“I’m the youngest of four, and I’ve failed a lot of my life, and I’ve had a lot of people tell me that I can’t do it,” Taaffe said. “I think I’ve seen people succeed in a humble light, and I’ve seen people succeed in a not so humble light, and I’ve just been able to watch all my life and know what path I want to go down, and that’s helped me a lot. So once I do have that opportunity to be fortunate to succeed, then I can go on the path that I want to.”

Taaffe’s success and his team’s success have led him to two conference championships, one conference title and back-to-back College Football Playoff semifinal appearances. He has represented the Longhorns in the media multiple times, including ahead of the 2025 season at the 2025 SEC Football Media Days.

Now, the fifth-year player has a chance to help his team overcome its flaws once again, as Texas continues its march toward SEC Play.