While speaking with reporters at SEC Media Days in Atlanta, Texas safety Michael Taaffe’s heart was with his home state.

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 show light to what’s going on in Texas,” Taaffe, a Texas native, said. “Football is cool, but this is real life and this is way more important than football. I wanted everyone around the country to know what Texas is dealing with.

“Anything I can do [for] them, I’m going to do it.”

The flash flood along the Guadalupe River on July 4 killed at least 132 people across several counties. In Kerr County alone, there have been at least 106 confirmed deaths.

“They were just 18-year-old counselors. [They] didn’t think that they were going to have to take care of anything but maybe having the flu, maybe a stubbed toe and they wake up in the middle of the night and all of the sudden they’ve got to save lives,” Taaffe said. “I want to try and shed light on how they should be remembered. They should be remembered as heroes.”

— Selby Lopez, The Dallas Morning News (TNS)

Longhorns get commitment from

5-star linebacker from Georgia

Once again, Texas football has plucked a five-star recruit out of the state of Georgia.

Tyler Atkinson, considered the top linebacker prospect in the Class of 2026, announced his commitment to the Longhorns on ESPN on Tuesday morning. Atkinson is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 9 overall recruit in the cycle and the top prospect in Georgia.

He chose the Longhorns over offers from Georgia, Oregon, Clemson, Ohio State and other top programs.

It’s the second year in a row that Steve Sarkisian has scored a major recruiting victory in Georgia. Last cycle, the Longhorns signed five-star defensive lineman Justus Terry despite heavy competition from the Bulldogs.

Atkinson, listed at 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, plays for Grayson High School in Loganville, Georgia.

He becomes the top-ranked prospect in Texas’ 2026 recruiting class, joining fellow five stars Dia Bell and Richard Wesley. He’s Texas’ second linebacker commit of the cycle. Mayde Creek’s Kosi Okpala committed to the Longhorns earlier in July.

Texas’ class moved up one spot to No. 8 in the country with Atkinson’s commitment.

— David Eckert, Houston Chronicle (TNS)