Jeff Traylor

Jeff Traylor
Traylor in 2021
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamUTSA
ConferenceAAC
Record42–19
Biographical details
Born (1968-05-09) May 9, 1968 (age 56)
Gilmer, Texas, U.S.
Playing career
1986–1989Stephen F. Austin
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1989–1992Big Sandy HS (TX) (assistant)
1993–1999Jacksonville HS (TX) (assistant)
2000–2014Gilmer HS (TX)
2015–2016Texas (ST/TE)
2017SMU (AHC/RB)
2018–2019Arkansas (AHC/RB)
2020–presentUTSA
Head coaching record
Overall42–19 (college)
175–26 (high school)
Bowls1–3
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
2 C-USA (2021, 2022)
1 C-USA West Division (2021)
Awards
C-USA Coach of the Year (2021, 2022)

Jeffrey Michael Traylor (born May 9, 1968) is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), a position he has held since the 2020 season.

Early life

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Traylor attended Gilmer High School and graduated in 1986.[1] He attended Stephen F. Austin State University, where he was a walk-on for the Lumberjacks football program.[2] He earned both his undergraduate (1990) and graduate (2002) degrees in education.[3][4]

Career

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High school

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Traylor began his coaching career at Big Sandy High School, where he spent four years as an assistant coach from 1989 to 1992. He was later hired as an assistant coach at Jacksonville High School from 1993 to 1999, where he served as passing coordinator, defensive backs coach, receivers coach and special teams coordinator.[3] There, he helped coach future NFL quarterbacks Josh McCown and Luke McCown and former Texas A&M standout signal-caller Randy McCown.

Traylor then coached at Gilmer High School where he was named four-time Texas High School Coach of the Year for Class 4A, and posted a 175–26 record (.871 winning percentage). During his 15-year tenure, Traylor led the Buckeyes to appearances in five state championship games (2004, 2007, 2009, 2012, and 2014), winning three state titles (2004, 2009, and 2014) and 12 district crowns. In 2015, Gilmer renamed Buckeye Stadium to Jeff Traylor Stadium to honor Traylor's success.[5][6] At Gilmer, Traylor coached future NFL players Kenneth Pettway, Manuel Johnson, Curtis Brown, David Snow, G. J. Kinne, Gus Johnson, Blake Lynch, and Kris Boyd.

Texas

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Traylor began his collegiate career in 2015 at the University of Texas at Austin as the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach under Charlie Strong before becoming the Longhorns associate head coach for offense and wide receivers coach in 2016. While with the Texas Longhorns football program Traylor helped sign the No. 7-ranked recruiting class in the country in back-to-back years and was named Big 12 Recruiter of the Year.[7]

SMU

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In 2017, Traylor became the associate head coach and running backs coach for Southern Methodist University[8][9] before joining the Arkansas Razorbacks in the same role.[10] Both of these jobs were under coach Chad Morris who had also previously been a Texas high school coach.

Arkansas

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For the 2018 and 2019 football seasons, Traylor served as the associate head coach and running back coach at the University of Arkansas under head coach Chad Morris.[10][11]

UTSA

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In December 2019, Traylor left the Arkansas Razorbacks football program to become the third head coach in program history at UTSA.[11][12][13]

Traylor tested positive for COVID-19 on December 23, 2020, and missed the 2020 First Responder Bowl as a result.[14]

In 2021, Traylor led the Roadrunners to their best start in program history for a season, winning their first eleven regular season games before finishing the regular season 11-1. The UTSA Roadrunners also secured their first conference championship, defeating Western Kentucky 49-41,[15] followed by a bowl bid to the 2021 Frisco Bowl, losing to San Diego State University by a score of 38-24,[16] posting a final record for the year of 12-2.

Head coaching record

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High school

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Football Season Record Table
Season Conf Dist Overall
Record
District
Record
Playoff
Record
School Notes
2000 3A D1 16 6-4 Gilmer High School
(175-26)
2001 8-3 0-1
2002 3A D2 11 8-3 0-1
2003 13-1 3-1 State Quarterfinalist
2004 13 16-0 4-0 6-0 State Champion
2005 10-2 4-0 1-1
2006 3A D1 15 10-1 5-0 0-1
2007 14-1 5-0 4-1 State Runner Up
2008 3A D2 17 12-2 5-0 3-1 State Quarterfinalist
2009 15-0 5-0 5-0 State Champion
2010 16 9-4 4-1 2-1
2011 13-1 5-0 3-1 State Quarterfinalist
2012 14-2 6-0 5-1 State Runner Up
2013 11-2 5-1 2-1
2014 4A D2 5 16-0 5-0 6-0 State Champion

College

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Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs
UTSA Roadrunners (Conference USA) (2020–2022)
2020 UTSA 7–5 5–2 2nd (West) L First Responder*
2021 UTSA 12–2 7–1 1st (West) L Frisco
2022 UTSA 11–3 8–0 1st L Cure
UTSA Roadrunners (American Athletic Conference) (2023–present)
2023 UTSA 9–4 7–1 3rd W Frisco
2024 UTSA 3–5 1–3
UTSA: 42–19 28–7
Total: 42–19
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

Personal life

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Traylor married his wife, Cari, in 1992. They have three children: Jordan, Jake, and Jaci.[17] Jordan played as a quarterback for Gilmer High School and the Texas A&M Aggies, and is currently an offensive assistant for the New Orleans Saints.[18] Jake works for NBC as a political reporter.

References

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  1. ^ "Jeff Traylor discusses decision to leave Gilmer for Texas". www.kltv.com. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  2. ^ "Kinesiology & Health Science Edition — PCOE". coe.sfasu.edu. Archived from the original on December 10, 2019. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Jeff Traylor - Football Coach". University of Texas Athletics. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  4. ^ Gore, Kevin (June 28, 2013). "And the winners are ... SFA grads honored for coaching success". The Daily Sentinel (Texas). Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  5. ^ De Leon, Michael (June 25, 2015). "Gilmer's Buckeye Stadium to be renamed for former coach Traylor". Texas Redzone Report. Archived from the original on July 30, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  6. ^ Jones, Rachel (June 22, 2015). "Buckeye Stadium renamed "Jeff Traylor Stadium" in honor of football coach". KYTX. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  7. ^ Willis, Haisten (February 4, 2016). "Traylor named Scout's Big 12 Recruiter of the Year". Burnt Orange Nation. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  8. ^ Engel, Patrick (February 9, 2017). "Jeff Traylor joins SMU coaching staff". PonyStampede.com. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  9. ^ "Chad Morris to Arkansas is official, Jeff Traylor named SMU interim head coach". KLTV. December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  10. ^ a b "Jeff Traylor Bio". Arkansas Razorbacks. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  11. ^ a b Jeyarajah, Shehan (December 9, 2019). "UTSA to hire former Texas high school football head coach to lead program". Dave Campbell's Texas Football. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  12. ^ "UTSA names Jeff Traylor new head football coach". UTSA Athletics. December 9, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  13. ^ "UTSA names Jeff Traylor new head football coach". UTSA.edu. December 9, 2019. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  14. ^ Khan, Sam Jr. (December 23, 2020). "Texas-San Antonio football coach Jeff Traylor tests positive for COVID-19 ahead of Saturday bowl game". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  15. ^ "Final Statistics: 2021 Conference USA Championship" (PDF). Conference USA. December 3, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 4, 2021. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  16. ^ "San Diego State Wins The 2021 Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl". thefriscobowl.com. December 21, 2021. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  17. ^ "First-year college football coaches facing 'extreme challenges' in wake of coronavirus pandemic". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  18. ^ "Jordan Traylor". www.neworleanssaints.com. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
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