2021 Season Taaffe was a walk-on at Texas and saw no playing time during his freshman year.
2022 Season When Taaffe was a redshirt freshman, he played in 13 games totaling 26 combined tackles. Prior to the
Alamo Bowl, Taaffe was granted a full scholarship by Texas head coach
Steve Sarkisian on December 18, 2022.
2023 Season During Taaffe's sophomore season, he amassed a total of 48 tackles and 3 interceptions. This led to Taaffe earning honorable mention All-Big 12 and a
Burlsworth Trophy nominee.
2024 Season During Taaffe's junior season, he earned SEC co-defensive player of the week and Burlsworth Trophy walk-on of the week honors. Taaffe also earned second team
AP All-American honors. During the 2024 College Football Playoffs, a high hit by Taaffe led to the Big 12 commissioner to call for consistency in targeting penalty calls. He ended the season with 78 tackles, 10 pass deflections, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble, and 5 interceptions.
2025 Season Taaffe chose to return to Texas for his fifth and final year, forgoing the NFL draft. After Week 3, he was named to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, which honors 22 college football players for extraordinary commitment to community service. In Week 6 against
Florida, Taaffe recorded his first interception of the season. After Week 7, he was named a Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year semifinalist. In Week 8 against
Kentucky, Taaffe suffered a thumb injury in the fourth quarter and missed the next two games. At the end of October, Taaffe was named a semifinalist for the
Jim Thorpe Award. On December 4, he was named to the SEC Football Community Service Team. On December 8, Taaffe was recognized as a finalist for the
Burlsworth Trophy at the award ceremony, becoming the first Longhorn in program to be selected as a finalist. At the end of the season, Taaffe was named to the
All-SEC first team and won the
Wuerffel Trophy. On December 15, 2025, Taaffe declared for the NFL draft.
College statistics ==Professional career==