Will Taylor had the rare opportunity to play two sports at the Power-5 level, but he made the decision to let go of the football dream and put his all into baseball. For two years, he was a two-sport athlete, playing wide receiver in the fall while lining up in the outfield for Clemson in the spring.

Earlier this month, Taylor made the decision to commit to baseball for the remainder of his Tigers career. Following the decision, Bakich reacted to the news and how it impacts the team positively moving forward.

“I didn’t know that was coming and didn’t expect it quite honestly and Will was very thought out. He had the most unique opportunity of all the student athletes at Clemson and get to do two sports well, be champion in two sports,” Bakich said.

Bakich noted that Taylor’s 2023 season may have opened his eyes to the long-term decision. During Clemson’s strong season, he was one of the key contributors, batting .363 with an almost laughable .489 on-base percentage. Add in the 46 RBI’s and Taylor earned the team’s Most Improved award.

With his current trajectory, he’s a true professional prospect when you look at the numbers, and the extra time devoted to baseball can only increase that possibility. Bakich saw multiple Tigers get drafted in 2023, and sees Taylor doing so in the future.

“Has the potiential to play this game for a long time and make a career out of it. I just appreciate the way he and his family thought through it,” Bakich said. “It was a long process to come to that decision. I appreciate he and his dad. I had breakfast with he and his dad up at the cape and you want to talk about solid, salt of the earth people. That’s an incredibly family, the Taylor family, and it was awesome to get to spend some time with them up there.”

One of the factors in this is the money coming along with it. Bakich talked about using the NIL to help pay non-scholarship players through their Clemson career, and Taylor is no exception. While money is obviously always a part of things, Bakich appreciated how Taylor and his family didn’t want to make it the focus in this decision, and part of it was the belief in his professional future.

“They’re looking at it more long-term where the real money is on the back end,” Bakich said. “It’s him being a professional player and having a long major league career. He wasn’t looking at the money as a short-term thing and I really appreciate the way they went about that thought process. We’re going to try to help him out for sure.”