ANN ARBOR – Michigan’s football program landed Oklahoma running back Taylor Tatum via the transfer portal in January, but it wouldn’t have happened without Wolverines baseball coach Tracy Smith.
As the No. 1 running back recruit in the 2024 class, Tatum received football offers from more than 30 programs, including most of the sport’s traditional powers. But he was also a standout baseball player and wanted to play both sports in college.
Many schools pushed him to focus on football and walk away from what he calls his “first love.” Michigan didn’t. Smith recruited Tatum to play baseball before the football staff got involved. Although Jim Harbaugh’s staff eventually offered, the Wolverines did not prioritize the top-50 overall prospect, and Tatum signed with Oklahoma to play both sports.
After a challenging year and a half in Norman, the Longview, Texas, native wanted a fresh start and entered the portal.
This time, Michigan’s football and baseball programs worked in lockstep during the recruiting process. The Wolverines now have a new football staff led by head coach Kyle Whittingham, and Tatum also has a previous connection with running backs coach Tony Alford, who served as his primary recruiter while at Ohio State in 2023.
Meanwhile, Smith and Tatum maintained their strong connection from the high school recruiting process. The now fourth-year Michigan head coach wasn’t going to miss another opportunity to bring Tatum to Ann Arbor.
“Just having a baseball staff who’s willing to stand behind you is definitely a big deal to me,” Tatum told MLive. “I’m not even eligible to play this year, but just knowing that they still believe in me and they still get to see me every day when I can get over there, that really just kind of made me excited, made me want to be here even more.”
Although Tatum was on Oklahoma’s baseball roster in 2025, the Sooners decided to redshirt him. The centerfielder hasn’t played a live baseball game since high school but isn’t giving up his dream to play both sports at a high level. He’s not eligible to play baseball until the 2027 season for the Wolverines, per NCAA rules, but is able to practice with the team.
The balancing act is real. NCAA rules limit athletes to 20 total hours of practice and training per week across any sport. Some days, Tatum works out with the football team in the morning before heading to the baseball facility in the afternoon.
His hours with baseball will be limited once spring football practices begin in mid-March, but so far, the transition has been everything he had hoped for.
Still, he knows catching up won’t happen overnight.
“It’s been a weird journey,” Tatum said. “I just tell people I haven’t been out of the mix though. I’ve always put my work in, especially here. I’ve been a lot more disciplined and getting extra work in, not just working out with a team, but just knowing how far I am behind (in baseball) and that my athleticism’s not going to carry me. This is baseball we’re talking about. You see some of the not most athletic people who are great. So just getting extra work in. I think I’ve done a pretty good job at it.”
Smith said Tatum’s raw tools are evident.
“He’s a very good athlete,” Smith said at Michigan baseball’s media day last week. “Obviously, he can really run, and for not playing in two years and hitting against some of the mid-90s stuff, he’s actually putting the bat on the ball, which is hard to do.”
Not only is Tatum juggling two sports, but he’s also navigating a position change in football. Michigan originally recruited him as a running back, but the Wolverines return a loaded room led by Jordan Marshall, the fourth-ranked running back in the 2024 class. They also signed five-star prospect Savion Hiter, the No. 1 running back in the 2026 class.
With a crowded running back room, coaches presented him with another idea: playing safety.
The move would allow Michigan to utilize Tatum’s athleticism while reducing the wear and tear that comes with absorbing hits and blocking in the backfield. The Wolverines also lost three safeties who started games last season, creating a clearer path to playing time in 2026.
Tatum played some linebacker in high school, but safety is a new challenge. He embraces it.
“I’m competitive no matter what I do,” he said. “I’m not going to sit there and be like, ‘Oh well, this is a new position. I don’t expect to play.’ No, I’m a competitor. If I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it to the fullest.”
He views safety as being the “centerfielder” of the defense. Tatum said safeties coach Tyler Stockton and assistant Brad Hawkins have helped speed up the transition.
“Ball skills come naturally to me,” Tatum said. “If you look at my high school film, I have a whole bunch of good catches, high-pointing the ball, tracking the ball. … Getting with them, understanding the defense, understanding offensive formations — it’s kind of easier when you’ve been on the offensive side and you know tendencies.”
The door remains open for a return to running back. As a freshman at Oklahoma, Tatum played in 11 games with three starts, totaling 278 rushing yards and three touchdowns while averaging 5 yards per carry. He added five catches for 41 yards and a score.
Last season, however, was an eye-opening one. An injury limited him to one game and forced him to reevaluate his approach.
“Definitely just being consistent,” he said. “My recovery habits have gotten way better. Hydration, sleep … this is kind of a business. This is like pro ball. You have to treat yourself like a pro. You have to treat your body like a pro. You have to eat like a pro to be to the best of your standards. Once I learned that and learned how to eat right, sleep right, drink right, everything just got better and better.”
Another notable aspect of Tatum’s transfer to Michigan is a looming matchup against his former team. The Wolverines host Oklahoma in Week 2.
If everything goes as planned, he’ll have an opportunity to tackle some of his former teammates.
“I thought about it a couple of times,” he said. “Me and my boys talk. I’m definitely excited for it. To go out there and compete against the former team, there’s no better feeling. Not for any bad blood, but, hey, I used to go there, I know what they’re about. I know what this place is about. We going to get active for sure.”