Taurean York was at a college mega camp between his freshman and sophomore year when an assistant coach made an off-hand comment that changed the young linebacker’s routine for the rest of his high school career.

York was wearing No. 538 at the camp when that coach suggested the Temple star move to defensive end from linebacker because of a soft core. From that point on, York completed 538 sit ups every morning before breakfast to build abs and erase doubters. And that wasn’t the end of his morning routine. 

“I’m an early bird, so I’d get to the offices around 5 a.m. in pitch black and the only car I saw was Taurean’s,” Temple head coach Scott Stewart remembered. “I thought maybe he was leaving it there overnight or something. Turns out, he was on the back field running wind sprints because the recruiting services said that his speed would hold him back.” 

York is now a starting linebacker at Texas A&M as a true freshman and was recently named a semifinalist for the Shawn Alexander Freshman of the Year Award. He’s second on the team with 47 tackles – sixth-most among Power Five freshman. He has 7.5 tackles for loss, one sack, and a forced fumble. His PFF grade of 76.7 is the highest of any freshman linebacker in the country. 

York surprised people with his play as a freshman years well before donning the maroon at Texas A&M. The linebacker never lost a football or basketball game during his two seasons at Temple Middle School. When York arrived at the local high school ahead of the 2019 season, Stewart faced a tough decision. The Wildcats needed a linebacker and York was the best option, but Stewart had never played a freshman on varsity in his 25-year coaching career that includes multiple NFL players.

Not only did York survive a varsity gauntlet at 14 years old, but he also thrived. He led the district in tackles as a freshman. He was the District 12-6A Defensive MVP as a sophomore, junior, and senior. And yet he was underrated as a three-star recruit who was ranked as the 167th overall recruit in Texas and the 77th-best linebacker in the country in the 2023 recruiting cycle. The "Temple Tackling Machine" was the top-rated inside linebacker in Texas on the DCTF Top 100.  

“The only people surprised by his freshman season at Texas A&M didn’t see him at Temple High School, I can tell you that,” Stewart said. “He is the most intrinsically motivated kid I’ve ever been around. He’s a special dude.”  

That motivation was made clear on Friday nights when Stewart received angry texts and emails from an impatient York when HUDL film from that night’s game wasn’t uploaded to the website by midnight. Stewart eventually told his assistants responsible for uploading the HUDL to provide York with a coach’s log-in and password so that his star linebacker could watch film while his friends did what most high school students do on Friday night after a football game. 

York was a Baylor commit late in 2022 when Texas A&M defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin began a full-court press with an offer. York decommitted from the Bears on Dec. 11, was offered by the Aggies two days later, and was signed to Jimbo Fisher’s 2023 class by Dec. 21. Stewart never doubted York’s ability to play SEC football. 

“I told Durkin that any limitation Taurean had would be physical and that other than that he’d be the best he’s ever coached,” Stewart said. “He might not be the fastest or the biggest, but no player you’ve ever coached will work harder or smarter or be a better leader. I stand on that.” 

Those words became prophetic when a 17-year-old York enrolled early at Texas A&M weeks after receiving his first collegiate playbook. Durkin held his first meeting with his linebacker room, which included a handful of upperclassmen and one true freshman – York. As Durkin began working through calls based on different offensive personnel, he quizzed the room about what to do. One hand raised – York’s. Durkin told Stewart that his former pupil knew the entire playbook and that the rest of the room was shocked at how quickly York picked up the college game. Stewart wasn’t. 

“Taurean came to school every Monday during the football season with a complete game plan on how to attack the opponent based on what he watched on film over the weekend,” Stewart said. “I laughed when Durkin told me the playbook story. He’ll be getting full on gameplans from Taurean in no time.”

York was clearly Texas A&M’s second-best linebacker by the end of the spring game. He’s started for the Wrecking Crew defense in each of Texas A&M’s first nine games. In a bit of trivia that doesn’t feel true, York has started in every game he’s ever played from little league through college in football and basketball. 

Temple remains a part of York’s life at Texas A&M. He talks to Stewart regularly and recently attended a Temple freshman b-team game when the Wildcats played against College Station High School. The stardom is clearly not changing the next face of Texas A&M’s defense. 

“He wasn’t sure if he needed to buy a ticket and I told him he had a golden ticket for anything involving Temple,” Stewart said. “I’m surprised he didn’t grab a headset and start calling the defense.”