UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor returns to his collegiate coaching roots in his Texas homecoming.  Since he left UT-Austin at the end of the 2016, he’s left a mark on the Roadrunners and other marquee programs.

Traylor has led UTSA to an unprecedented 19-7 record in his first two seasons with the Roadrunners. Traylor was named Conference USA Coach of the Year in 2021, and his team secured the Conference USA championship after a record-setting season. 

Traylor is entering his third season with the Roadrunners, and while sitting with a 1-1 record, the head coach has shown his ability to put up points against tough opponents. Traylor and UTSA are coming off a 41-35 overtime win against Army where the Roadrunners posted 512 yards of total offense with no turnovers after running the ball 36 times.

Running the ball often seems to be the mark of Traylor’s work. In the first two weeks, UTSA ran the ball 64 times, but this doesn’t detract from the rest of Traylor’s offense which posted over 900 total yards in the first two weeks.

Traylor’s offensively geared approach isn’t new to him, though. Prior to his arrival in San Antonio, Traylor served as associate head coach and running backs coach at Arkansas for two seasons after holding the same role at SMU.

While at SMU, Traylor’s running back group totaled over 2,200 rushing yards on the team’s way to finishing 12th in scoring offense. The high-octane approach carried the same result during Traylor’s stint with the Razorbacks where his running backs gained over 1,700 yards on the ground in 2018.

Traylor’s collegiate coaching career is rooted in Austin. He served as the Longhorns’ special teams coordinator and tight ends coach in 2015 and associate head of offense and wide receivers coach in the season after. 

Traylor’s Texas resume is deep and rooted heavily in his recruiting abilities. As lead recruiter for the Longhorns, Traylor led the team to the No. 7 recruiting class in consecutive seasons including players like Michael Dickson and Brandon Jones. Traylor’s recruiting record led to him being named 2016’s Big 12 Recruiter of the Year by Scout.com.

The Roadrunners’ head coach has a coaching career that extends over 30 years. Prior to collegiate coaching, Traylor served a 15-year stint as head coach at Gilmore High School,  where he won three state championships and took the school to five state championships. Traylor recorded a winning percentage of 87%, which is enough to rank 10th in Texas high school history.

The Longhorn defense is in for some explosive players and a high volume, quick paced offense behind Traylor on Saturday. Both senior running back Brenden Brady and dual-threat redshirt senior Frank Harris have the potential to cause problems for defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski.

Traylor will be looking to get the best of his former team this Saturday, as both teams search for their second win and a positive record in both teams’ final non-conference game.