Behind Michael Taaffe's No. 16 jersey, the Westlake alums honoring Jackson Coker

Michael Taaffe’s college football aspirations were still daydreams in the spring of 2019.

He’d just wrapped up his sophomore season at Westlake High School playing JV football while waiting for his growth spurt to hit. During those first two weeks of the offseason, Taaffe attacked the mandatory team workouts and hoped for a physical leap. But every day after school, he noticed rising senior wide receivers Jackson Coker and Ryan Lindley ducking into the weight room for another lifting session when everyone else went home.