Clemson Football: Will Taylor makes right decision to focus on baseball

Clemson Football player Will Taylor has announced that he will be focusing on his baseball career full-time from now on.

Taylor came to Clemson in Fall 2021 to play both football and baseball. He started with the football team as a quarterback but also was active on special teams returning punts.

An injury during the first half of the 2021 season put Taylor out of action and delayed his debut with the Tigers’ baseball team in spring 2022.

Taylor attended Dutch Fork High School in Irmo, South Carolina. 247Sports listed him as an athlete for football and rated him as a 3-star prospect. Perfectgame.org rated Taylor as the 22nd overall member of the baseball Class of 2021 and the sixth-best outfielder.

Taylor was a candidate to be drafted by Major League Baseball right out of high school, but he ultimately wanted to play football at Clemson. It was strongly believed at the time that he would eventually change positions to wide receiver, which he did in 2022.

Taylor’s success as a punt returner in 2021 had many fans excited about what he could do at receiver. It was a new position for him and he did not climb the depth chart as many had hoped.

Meanwhile, he had a strong 2023 baseball campaign for first-year head coach Erik Bakich. He batted .361 with a .488 on-base percentage and a .521 slugging percentage. He had 46 RBIs and five home runs.

It was understood that Taylor’s long-term pro hopes were in baseball and not football, so it probably was a matter of time before he made this decision. The question was how strong his love for football was and when would he feel the time was right.

In the big picture, this was the right decision for Taylor’s future, and it does work out well for the football team too. Head coach Dabo Swinney and wide receivers coach Tyler Grisham wouldn’t want to lose a talent like Taylor, but his decision does get the Tigers to the 85-player limit.

At the end of spring, the football team had 88 players on scholarship. Rules require the team to be at no more than 85 scholarships by the time fall practice starts. Since the end of spring practice, cornerback Malcolm Greene elected to transfer to Virginia, and defensive end Greg Williams decided to leave the team. With Taylor’s departure to pursue baseball, Clemson has now reached the 85-player mark.

Will Taylor’s decision might open up a spot for a high school wide receiver prospect in the Clemson Football Class of 2024

We will see over the next few weeks and months how this impacts Clemson recruiting. Some, including Shaking the Southland’s Ryan Kantor, have gone on the record saying that the Tigers should have taken a transfer wide receiver earlier in the year to bulk up the position. While this is still a possibility, it is unlikely to happen now because most of the higher-caliber players have already decided where they will be playing football this fall.

Additionally, Swinney will likely proceed conservatively with the 85-scholarship limit. If the Tigers are over the limit when fall practice starts, they will not have enough scholarships to cover all the former walk-ons that had scholarships in 2022. I doubt Swinney wants to fall short on scholarships for those young men.

This move by Taylor is more likely to open up a future scholarship that the team might use for a high school wide receiver prospect in the Class of 2024, but we might have to wait a little longer to find out. Clemson has been recruiting 5-star athlete Mike Matthews as a wide receiver, and if he were to select the Tigers the staff might consider the open spot from Taylor’s departure filled. If Matthews does not choose Clemson, it might open up the door for a prospect such as Alex Taylor from Greensboro, North Carolina.