News broke Tuesday evening that former Oklahoma running back Taylor Tatum is no longer on the Michigan football roster just seven months after transferring there and then switching positions to safety. Headlines read as if Tatum was suddenly cut from Kyle Whittingham's program right before fall camp, but that's not the case, as Tatum had a Plan B few other athletes can lean on.
Tatum transferred to Michigan as a two-sport athlete to play both football and baseball. He also played both at OU. According to On3's The Wolverine, Tatum made the decision to step away from football to fully focus on baseball as an outfielder.
Writing was on the wall for Taylor Tatum's move after his transfer from Oklahoma
As shocking as the news felt when it first broke, we all really should have seen this coming. There was more buzz in Ann Arbor about Tatum as a baseball player and he had been struggling to fully get a grip on the gridiron. Switching sides of the ball once he got to Michigan was another sign there weren't high expectations for Tatum on the Wolverines' football team.
Tatum was still obviously known best as a football player, and rightfully so as the top running back coming out of the 2024 recruiting class as a consensus four-star prospect from Longview, Texas. He then immediately saw the field as a freshman for the Sooners and seemed destined to make a career out of football and instead put baseball on the backburner.
In 11 games and three starts, Tatum rushed for 278 yards and three touchdowns and caught another TD while averaging 5.0 yards a carry in 2024. Classmate Xavier Robinson stole the spotlight down the stretch, though, and last season, Tatum got just one carry while appearing in one game as Robinson and Tory Blaylock took over the backfield and return this season.
Tatum got even less playing time on Oklahoma's baseball diamond while not appearing in a game in 2025 as a freshman. He then was ineligible to compete this past baseball season after transferring in January, so two years removed from high school, Tatum has yet to step up to the plate in a college baseball game. Had he stuck around Oklahoma, he'd be a national champion right now.
Regardless, Tatum has exhausted his opportunities in football between trying a different program and a new position. He still hasn't gotten a chance to really show what he can do on the baseball diamond, though. Instead of bouncing around football programs, Tatum has elected to use an avenue most athletes don't have after realizing things aren't working out.
There's certainly risk involved in Tatum's decision to put all of his eggs in the baseball basket, but it does appear to be his best option at this point. It's clear he wasn't going to break through in a blue-blood football program after switching positions. The Wolverines' baseball team, though, went 34-24 and missed the NCAA Tournament last season, so there's more opportunity to stand out on a less-talented roster, especially if Tatum focuses all of his ability on baseball for the first time in his career.
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