A two-sport athlete, Will Taylor suited up on both the gridiron and diamond at Clemson over the last couple of years, playing wide receiver for the football team and outfielder for the baseball team. However, last week, Taylor announced that he is halting his football career to focus his full attention on baseball.

At the Clemson football program’s annual media outing on Tuesday, head coach Dabo Swinney commented on Taylor’s decision to pursue baseball full-time. The Palmetto State native is coming off a strong second season for the Tigers’ baseball team and will be eligible for the 2024 MLB Draft upon completing his junior year next year.

“I think we all knew that long-term, that was going to be his future. But he wants to be a first-round draft pick, and really felt like this is what he needed to concentrate on this fall,” Swinney said. “I love that kid, and hopefully he’ll just come over here and sit around and hang out with us some because he’s just one of those guys you just love being around.”

Taylor won an ACC Championship with Swinney’s team this past December, then won a baseball ACC Championship in May, becoming the first Clemson athlete on two ACC title teams in a single academic year since 1991-92 and the first in football and baseball since 1988-89.

“He wouldn’t give anything for the experience that he’s gotten. This is what he wanted,” Swinney said. “He wanted the college experience, and not many guys have the ability to play one sport, much less two, and to be a champion in both sports – to be an ACC Champion in football, an ACC Champion in baseball.”

Taylor earned the baseball team’s Most Improved Award in 2023 when he hit .362 with 67 runs, 16 doubles, two triples, five homers and 46 RBIs while logging a .523 slugging percentage, .489 on-base percentage, 48 walks, 10 hit-by-pitches and 11 steals in 62 games.

The 5-foot-10, 180-pounder started his Clemson football career at quarterback in 2021 before a scheduled transition to wide receiver in 2022. He recorded five career carries for 20 yards, seven receptions for 22 yards and a touchdown, 16 punt returns for 90 yards and a 14-yard kickoff return in 15 career games with 44 offensive snaps.

A former Dutch Fork High School (Irmo, S.C.) star, Taylor’s freshman football season saw him play 15 offensive snaps in five games, in addition to his role on special teams, prior to suffering a season-ending injury in early October of 2021. He returned to action in the season opener vs. Georgia Tech last season, scoring his first career touchdown on a 3-yard reception – and in the process, he became the first Clemson baseball player to score a touchdown for the Tigers since Kyle Parker’s 3-yard touchdown run against Wake Forest in 2009.

Overall, on the football field last season, Taylor caught five passes for 16 yards and a touchdown in 29 offensive snaps over 10 games and also returned 10 punts for 26 yards.

“Obviously it didn’t go necessarily quite according to script – it rarely does,” Swinney said of Taylor’s football career. “But he got off to a really good start and was really kind of on his way. It was like the fourth game maybe of his freshman year, that crazy year of ‘21, he was kind of on his way to really becoming a real factor for us, and then he got hurt. So, he missed all the spring, missed all the summer and then came in last year and toward the end of last year was starting to kind of hit his stride a little bit.

“But this is just kind of where he’s at. He’s in that third year, but he’s had an amazing experience here at Clemson. That’s what he wanted. I’m excited for him, but definitely, definitely the right decision.”

–Clemson Athletic Communications contributed to this story