When head coach Bret Bielema released the updated depth chart at the start of the 2009 season, it was a surprise to see redshirt freshman Mike Taylor listed as a starting outside linebacker.
What’s even more surprising is that the first-year starter currently leads the team in tackles. Taylor was the leading tackler once again last week, recording eight against the Buckeyes.
Taylor — a 6-foot-2, 221-pound linebacker from Ashwaubenon, Wis. — has started all six games for UW, and it is fair to say he is making his presence known.
The team leader in tackles is certainly proud of the high number of stops, but the individual statistics are not Taylor’s major concern.
“I wasn’t expecting to lead the team in tackles — that wasn’t really my goal,” he said. “I was just focusing on getting healthy. My main goal was to get back on the field.”
As a true freshman, the coaching staff raved about Taylor’s potential, but a neck injury kept him off the playing field for the duration of the 2008 season. The staff elected to redshirt the promising linebacker, and that gave Taylor a chance to learn without the pressures of performing Saturdays.
“I was just getting coached up, getting healthy and preparing myself for next year,” Taylor said.
With the redshirt season behind him, Taylor had an opportunity to see immediate playing time in 2009 due to the departure of graduating outside linebackers Jonathan Casillas and DeAndre Levy.
Unfortunately for Taylor, the injuries returned.
“During spring ball, it was frustrating to pull a hamstring, and it was even more frustrating to pull it again in fall camp,” Taylor said. “I’m just thankful to be back on the field.”
Despite the nagging hamstring injuries, Taylor impressed the coaches and his teammates throughout camp, and he earned a spot in the staring lineup. According to fellow linebacker Jaevery McFadden, Taylor constantly stood out and displayed his playmaking ability whenever he practiced.
“After last spring, just the way he was working, I knew he would make an impact,” McFadden said. “He has just got a special knack for making plays.”
Playmaker is definitely one word to describe Taylor, who has filled up the stat sheet all season with tackles for loss, interceptions (not including one that was called back in the Minnesota game), a fumble recovery and a forced fumble.
That forced fumble Taylor recorded against Northern Illinois was no accident either. In fact, Taylor informed his teammates of his intention to force a fumble before the play even took place.
“He actually called that out,” McFadden explained. “We were on the bench, and me, Culmer (St. Jean) and Mike sat down and Mike was like, ‘I’m going to strip the ball the next time they give it to the running back.'”
“So, we get back out there and sure enough, he strips the ball — he really called it,” McFadden continued.
Needless to say, defensive coordinator Dave Doeren has been impressed with the freshman linebacker’s performance thus far.
“You’ve seen the impact he has had already,” Doeren said. “He has been tremendous, and he comes out here and works hard every day.”
Doeren recruited Taylor out of high school, but the in-state prospect received very little national interest. Other schools may not have noticed Taylor, but Doeren said the UW coaching staff knew that he had legitimate potential from the start.
“His film was unbelievable — everyone else really just missed out,” Doeren said. “I told him when I recruited him he was going to come and if he did what he was supposed to do, he could be a four-year starter here.”
With an impressive freshman season underway, Taylor is on track to perform as a four-year starter for UW, but the redshirt freshman admits there is plenty of progress to be made.
“I’m learning each game, each week I’m just learning from mistakes and trying to get better,” Taylor said.
Mistakes are inevitably going to surface when freshmen are receiving significant playing time, but McFadden is more than willing to play alongside Taylor, regardless of his inexperience.
“He is not repeating the same mistakes over and over, and he just keeps making plays, so as a teammate you can live with that,” McFadden said.
McFadden has enjoyed watching Taylor make plays for the defense so far this season, but with the 2009 campaign now at the midway point, the senior linebacker, who led UW in tackles last year, knows he needs to make up some ground to catch the freshman for the team lead.
“Man, I’m trying, I’m trying to come back,” McFadden said. “I told Mike he better watch his back, because I’m coming for those tackles.”
With Iowa and that physical running game coming to Madison Saturday, there should be plenty of tackles to go around.