Reports: UW to hire former O’Dea star as safeties coach

The UW Huskies are hiring Taylor Mays, a former star at Seattle’s O’Dea High School, as their safeties coach, according to multiple reports.

Caple: Five 2023 UW Huskies recruits to watch this spring

Mays, a former All-American safety at USC, is set to replace Vinnie Sunseri, who left Montlake after one season to become the defensive coordinator at Jacksonville State.

Mays has spent the past three seasons as a defensive backs coach and defensive analyst at USC. He is set to join a UW coaching staff that features new defensive coordinator Ryan Walters, who was hired earlier this month to replace Steve Belichick.

Mays was one of the most highly touted recruits to come out of Washington. He was a five-star prospect ranked first in the state and 11th in the country for the class of 2006, according to 247Sports.com. He earned All-America and All-Pac-10 honors from various publications during each of his four seasons playing for the Trojans.

The San Francisco 49ers selected Mays in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He appeared in games for the 49ers, Bengals and Raiders during his six-year NFL career, totaling 124 tackles, 11 passes defended, three tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries, one forced fumble and one sack.

Mays also played one season in the CFL with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Mays is the son of former UW defensive lineman Stafford Mays.

More on UW Huskies football

• How UW Huskies, WSU Cougars fared in rookie NFL seasons
• Caple: Did CFP teams build O-lines how Huskies want to build theirs?
• Report: UW Huskies land transfer portal’s top-ranked cornerback
• The 29 new UW recruits and transfers enrolling this month
• Caple: Which transfers will help UW Huskies most in 2025?

Related

Big Ten Football Preview: Ohio State, Oregon aim to overtake defending champ IndianaCourt halts extra year of NCAA eligibility for 2022 H.S. gradsFormer UW star, O’Dea alum Myles Gaskin retires from NFLWhat To Know: Changes for the 2026 college football seasonFormer UW star Vita Vea agrees to new deal with Buccaneers, ending hold-inAnalyst: UW Huskies could be ‘ultimate chaos agent’ this fall