Hollytree Country Club was filled with No. 16 Texas football jerseys with “TAAFFE” on the back.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever seen 16 jerseys without Manning on the back, so that’s cool,” University of Texas senior safety Michael Taaffe said. “It will probably be the only time, except for family events.”

Taaffe became the first current player to be the keynote speaker at the annual Texas Exes Tyler-Smith County Chapter Scholarship Dinner on Saturday night.

“I feel honored,” Taaffe said. “I know they call it Beast Texas down here. There are a lot of dogs that come from here, so it’s cool to get invited to such a prominent spot in Texas. I think it’s cool because when I’m not a current Longhorn, not a lot of people are going to be inviting me to events like this wanting me to speak. So I want to soak up my moments being here at Texas, trying to do everything I can, impact the community while my name is as big as it is right now.”

Last week at SEC Media Days in Atlanta, Taaffe wore a custom tie to pay tribute to nearly 30 young girls and their counselors who died at Camp Mystic during the deadly floods that hit Central Texas this month. The tie was burnt orange and had the initials of 27 people who died at the Christian summer camp cherished by Texas’ Hill Country. The “DE” at the top was in honor of Dick Eastland, the camp’s owner who was also a Texas Longhorns fan.

“I just wanted to bring attention and awareness to something way bigger than football, something way bigger than the SEC,” Taaffe said. “I think I have a platform, a unique platform, right now in this day and age in my life of college football at the University of Texas, so to be able to bring attention that’s so devastating is important to me, it’s important to my family and it’s important to the university of Texas.”

Taaffe started by talking about this year’s football team.

“We’ve got a really good quarterback (Arch Manning). He’s a really good leader,” Taaffe said. “We’ve got a new group of offensive linemen that will be really good. They’re young, but they’re really talented. We’ve got a couple of running backs that look really good. We’ve got some receivers that are really fast. They’re making me a whole lot better. We’ve got a Stanford receiver, be on the lookout for him. His name is Emmett Mosley, and he’s a stud.

“On the defense, we’ve got a couple of new transfer D-linemen that are going to be studs. We’ve got some freshmen that are going to help us out. And then obviously on the edge, we’ve got Colin Simmons, who is probably the best defensive player in the country. So that’ll make my job a little bit easier when he gets to the quarterback faster. We’ve also got some Westlake guys with Colin on the edge. At linebacker, we have Anthony Hill, who is probably going to be a first-round draft pick this year. He’s a beast. And then in the back, you’re stuck with me. And we’ve got some other outstanding young guys that are going to be really good. So our team is pretty complete. I think we’re going to do a good job this year. We’re together, and we’re excited to play for one another this year.”

Taaffe then told his story.

A former walk-on who was a two-time Defensive MVP in state championship games for Austin Westlake, Taaffe has made 152 tackles with two sacks, 8.5 tackles for loss and five interceptions. He was named a 2024 Associated Press Second Team All-American and was a semifinalist for the Burlsworth Trophy.

Taaffe then took questions from those in attendance — from opening at Ohio State, what teams he would want to be drafted by in the NFL, his faith and family, rivalries and playing for head coach Steve Sarkisian.

The Longhorns will open the season Aug. 30 at Ohio State. The Buckeyes ended the Longhorns’ 2024 season in the national semifinals.

“I thought I was going to the NFL last year,” Taaffe said. “It was my perfect plan, but I think we can clearly understand in the living testament that it’s not about my perfect plan, but His. My plan was to win the national championship in my senior year, go to the NFL, get drafted. But that didn’t happen. Ohio State ruined my dream and my plan. I had to trust it’s someone else’s plan.

“When I decided to come back, there was a lot of anger and emotions I had. It was more so because I knew that we had the potential and didn’t touch it. It was those people in that other locker room that ruined those dreams. It just adds to the motivation for when we go to Columbus come Aug. 30. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. And Jeremiah Smith is probably the best player in college football. We’re ready for the challenge.”

Justin Wells of Inside Texas provided a sports update.

“I was going to give you an update about the football team, but Michael gave a better one,” Wells joked. “Each year, I say this year, they are going to win more games than last year, and for three consecutive years, that’s been accurate. I don’t know if I can match that this year, but I can tell you that this team is going to be fun to watch.”

Texas went from 5-7 in Sarkisian’s first season in 2021 to 8-5 in 2022, 12-2 in 2023 and 13-3 last season. That 2021 season was Taaffe’s first on campus.

“I think the coolest way to say it is fans don’t buy all these tickets, don’t sell out these tickets to watch us be mediocre, so why don’t we try to work as hard as we can to give them a show,” Taaffe said. “It’s like you’re in Hollywood. You don’t come to see a 30 percent Rotten Tomatoes movie, you come to see the best movie out there, so we’ve got to go be the best movie and put on the best show every single Saturday.”

Melissa Bennett — who started Sister2Sister Cookies in Tyler along with her sister, Ashley Randall — was honored as 2025 Outstanding Texas Ex.

Bennett joins past recipients Noni and Jimmy Smith (2012), Linda and Dan Toney (2013), Bruce Bloch (2014), John C. Oberg III (2015), Chesley and Ted W. Walters (2016), Margaret and James I. Perkins (2017), Kay and Paul Latta (2018), Angie and Mike Russell (2019), Kevin Eltife (2021), James C. Wynne III (2022), Tom Perkins (2023) and Nick Pesina (2024).

The 2025 Texas Exes Scholarship Recipients were John Max Payne (Tyler Legacy), Fatima Ali (Tyler ISD Early College), Rita Rivera (Tyler ISD Early College) and Sara Eckert (Tyler Legacy).

For more information on the Texas Exes, email SmithCtyTexasExes@gmail.com or go to their Facebook page.