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Top 2026 safety recruit decommits from Wisconsin, flips to Big 12 school in home state

The Wisconsin Badgers no longer have any safeties committed for the class of 2026 after one of the top recruits in the country flipped to a school much closer to home.

Lorin Cox

Wisconsin safeties coach Jack Cooper runs Badgers through position drills during the program's April 19 spring showcase scrimmage.
Wisconsin safeties coach Jack Cooper runs Badgers through position drills during the program's April 19 spring showcase scrimmage. / Courtesy of Jake Kocorowski
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The Wisconsin Badgers lost an athletic freak of a safety recruit who was committed for the class of 2026.

3-star Zachary Taylor from Fulshear, Texas (near Houston) had announced his verbal pledge to Wisconsin in mid-June. On Friday, he tweeted that he changed his mind and is flipping to TCU instead.

He had taken official visits to TCU and Texas Tech in addition to his trip to Madison. After a little over a month, he decided to stay closer to home.

Taylor is ranked as a Top 30 defensive back in the country by 247Sports. He is also a track athlete, and his defensive coordinator called him "freakishly athletic."

The versatile defender was the Badgers' only safety commit in the 2026 class and leaves them with just 14 rising seniors secured for next year.

It's a big loss for Luke Fickell and safeties coach Jack Cooper, who will have more work to do now to fill the void in their recruiting class left by Taylor's flip.

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Lorin Cox
LORIN COX

Lorin Cox is the managing editor of Wisconsin Badgers on SI. He has been covering Badgers sports since 2014, when he was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin. He previously wrote for the Wisconsin State Journal, NBC Sports Chicago and USA Today Sports Media Group, and he is a former analyst for Pro Football Focus.

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