Official Visit Preview: JUCO LB Taylor Schaefer

Iowa Central C.C. linebacker Taylor Schaefer begins his official visit to Kentucky on Monday, Cats Illustrated can confirm. According to Allen Trieu of 247sports, Schaefer took an official visit to Iowa State this weekend and he has trips now planned to Kentucky, Wisconsin, and Arkansas in the days ahead. All of that will lead up to the early signing period.

Of the schools mentioned Iowa State probably has the safest situation in terms of coaching continuity, although Matt Campbell is always mentioned as a possible candidate for other jobs. Arkansas doesn’t have a coach and Wisconsin has already addressed Luke Fickell’s struggle to get it off the ground in Madison by saying they will commit more resources to help the program succeed.

Given that Kentucky recently lost a commitment from linebacker Max Mohring of Pennsylvania, who flipped to Northwestern, there’s an even greater need at the position than before.

Schaefer is a 6’3, 248-pound linebacker who has shown a well-rounded and balanced game. He’s capable of shooting the gaps inside the tackle box and making plays in the backfield, covering backs, tight ends, and inside receivers particularly in zone, and he breaks on the ball and pursues with good straight line speed.

Shaefer attended Southern Door in Brussels, Wisc., and initially enrolled at Minnesota Duluth as part of the program’s 2023 signing class. As a high school player Shaefer was a three-year starter on both sides of the ball and a two-time captain, also playing basketball and baseball.

He was the 2022 Packerland Conference Defensive Player of the Year two years in a row. In his first season at Iowa Central in 2024, Schaefer had 49 tackles, five tackles for loss, and two sacks. This season so far he has 90 tackles, 10 for loss, and five sacks.

Schaefer would have at least two seasons of eligibility remaining as well as a redshirt year wherever he transfers.

Iowa State seems like a school to watch because Schaefer took an unofficial visit to the school just weeks before his official visit to Ames. His trip to Kentucky, which is scheduled to begin tomorrow, will be his first trip to Lexington.

Kentucky’s coaching staff has aggressively pursued JUCO targets over the past couple of weeks in an attempt to fill out the roster in a way that doesn’t look too much portal work to be done.

Schaefer has gone on record with On3 saying that the highlights from his game against Dodge City seemed to boost his recruitment in the latter stages of the process. He also said his roommate at JUCO is a big Iowa State fan.