Fifth-year senior safety Michael Taaffe is one of the voices the Texas Longhorns listen to in the locker room.
But who inspires Taaffe?
The latest NBA legend Kobe Bryant, of course, according to a recent report in Yahoo! Sports.
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Asked what Texas football can improve upon heading into a matchup against San Jose State, Taaffe reportedly said, “… you take it as the faceless opponent, right? Whether it’s Ohio State, whether it’s Colorado State, whether it’s Michigan or whether it’s San Jose State, you treat it all the same. That’s just what you have to do as a competitor. I think if Kobe Bryant was up here, who was arguably the best competitor in all of basketball, all of sports history, I think he’d be saying the same thing.”
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING ABOUT THE LONGHORNS
Austin American-Statesman: So, Texas lost to Ohio State. What’s next for the Longhorns?
Austin American-Statesman: Texas Football: Breaking down Arch Manning mechanical issues in opener
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Austin American-Statesman: Five things for Texas fans to know about the San Jose State Spartans
Austin American-Statesman: What’s the report card for Texas football after loss to Ohio State?
Dallas Morning News: How Steve Sarkisian could have done more to help jittery Arch Manning vs. Ohio State
247Sports: Texas Football Notebook: News and nuggets to come out of the Longhorns’ Monday availability
247Sports: Arch Manning expresses some lessons learned from Texas’ 14-7 loss at Ohio State with San Jose State up next
247Sports: Everything Texas QB Arch Manning said to media entering Week 2
247Sports: Horns247 Staff Roundtable: Biggest positive, biggest negative coming out of Texas-Ohio State
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Inside Texas: 2025 Texas-Ohio State Postmortem: Defense/Special Teams
Inside Texas: Diagnosing the RB-led portion of Texas’ run game versus Ohio State
Inside Texas: ITYT: What we learned about Texas football in the season opener
Inside Texas: White Chocolate’s surreal debut was just the start for Parker Livingstone
Inside Texas: Texas’ Graceson Littleton earns PFF’s highest grade among true freshman cornerbacks
ICYMI IN BURNT ORANGE NATION
No. 5 Texas sweeps No. Wisconsin to secure undefeated Open Spike Classic
Watch: Steve Sarkisian addresses the media ahead of San Jose State
Inside the Numbers: Same struggles, different loss
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RECRUITING ROUNDUP
247Sports: Following the future: How Texas football commits performed over the weekend
247Sports: The Stampede: Five things Texas has to work on ahead of Early Signing Day
Inside Texas: Do recruits care about Texas’ Week 1 loss to Ohio State?
Inside Texas: Inside Scoop: 2026 commit visits Miami, 2027 No. 1 QB post-FSU news, upcoming Texas visit
SEC SHOWDOWN
247Sports: 247Sports’ Weekly SEC Football Poll: Texas and Alabama drop multiple spots while LSU rises in Week 1
Good Bull Hunting: Utah State week press conference
Rock M Nation: Without Blake Craig, Mizzou’s offensive approach needs to change
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And The Valley Shook: Garrett Nussmeier, Braelin Moore earn SEC Player of the Week honors
Rocky Top Talk: Four-star edge rusher Hezekiah Harris flips to Tennessee
Roll ‘Bama Roll: 11 ‘baffling’ charts from the Tide @ Florida State game
A Sea Of Blue: Takeaways from Mark Stoops’ Monday press conference
WHAT WE’RE READING
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SB Nation: Becky Lynch helps Seth Rollins retain the world title at Clash in Paris
SB Nation: NFL Preview 2025: Rankings, division picks, award predictions, and more
NEWS ACROSS LONGHORN NATION AND BEYOND
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Let the legend of White Chocolate begin.
