Razorbacks add DE after new commitment

Michael Taylor
Michael Taylor

Arkansas will add defensive end Michael Taylor to the 2016 class after he orally committed to the Razorbacks after his official visit Thursday.

Taylor, 6-3, 248 pounds, 4.6 seconds in the 40-yard dash, of Riverside (Calif.) City College, picked the Razorbacks over has nine scholarship offers from Utah State, Colorado, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Wyoming and others while drawing interest from UCLA and Southern Cal.

Coach Bret Bielema and defensive line coach Rory Segrest won him over.

“He’s a very, very, very … just a great overall coach and person,” Taylor said of Bielema. “My D-line coach Segrest … I really like him. I enjoyed speaking to him and having conversations with him, and he’s a Christian man. I’m a religious person in terms of my faith because I put all things through God.”

He signed a track scholarship to run the 110 hurdles at North Carolina Central out of The First Academy in Orlando, Fla., in 2014. Taylor ran 14.4 seconds in the hurdles while weighing 220 pounds, but he redshirted in football before leaving after the first semester to enroll at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College. Taylor stayed a semester there before transferring to Riverside. He could enroll at Arkansas and play this fall and have three years of eligibility if some classes from North Carolina Central are accepted by Riverside.

He’s confident the classes will be accepted and he’ll play this fall for the Hogs. If not, he’ll enroll in January and have two years of eligibility

Taylor’s father made the trip with him. “We make most of the big decisions together,” Taylor said. “We felt like that was the place I want to be.”

His father was ecstatic about Arkansas.

“He just loves Coach B and loved everything he was about and how he went about everything,” Taylor said. “It was just amazing. He just loved it. He loved it more than me. He said he wanted to play.”

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