Twist of fate
Traylor faces his alma mater in Roadrunners home debut
When he first left his hometown of Gilmer to enroll as a student at Stephen F. Austin, UTSA coach Jeff Traylor said he felt like he was “going to the largest city in America.”
Traylor describes himself as a “simple kid.” Asked to write in his yearbook where he envisioned himself 10 years after graduating Gilmer High in 1986, Traylor scribbled that he’d be the program’s head football coach. He missed the mark by only a few years.
For Traylor, the path to his goal seemed obvious. If you’re from East Texas, and you want to be a teacher and high school football coach, you go to Stephen F. Austin.
So, Traylor entered the program in Nacogdoches — a city with a population of 30,000 that was about six times the size of Gilmer. Through the next four years, Traylor earned the first of two degrees from the university, met his wife, Cari, and set the foundation for a coaching career that spanned the next three decades.
Now a head coach at the college level for the first time, Traylor still finds Stephen F. Austin along his path, as the Lumberjacks will meet the Roadrunners in Traylor’s home debut at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Alamodome.
“I was just a little country kid wanting to coach some football,” Traylor said. “Just to reflect and to see where my career is now, what the Lord has done with me, there’s no doubt I’ve done a little bit
of that.”
Traylor earned his undergraduate degree in 1990 and completed a graduate program in 2002. His wife and parents also earned two degrees from the university, Traylor said.
He played four years as a walk-on in the program but rarely saw the field, limited mostly to scout teams and backup tight end duties. Traylor said he took pride in playing hard and being “ultra competitive,” at times to his own detriment.
“I was a big fish in a little pond at Gilmer. Thought I was a really good player, got down to Nacogdoches and realized there were a bunch of good players in the state of Texas,” Traylor said. “I probably had more stories about intramural basketball shots than I did any performance on the football field, unfortunately.”
The lessons stuck with him, though. UTSA sophomore running back Sincere Mccormick said Traylor mentions his alma mater often in team meetings, citing his time there as part of the foundation of the culture pillars he preaches to the Roadrunners.
Junior cornerback Tariq Woolen said Traylor’s stories about his experience at SFA have added “a certain edge” to UTSA’S approach this week. Senior kicker Hunter Duplessis said the players “definitely feel that sense of urgency” from Traylor, and junior quarterback Frank Harris said the Roadrunners feed off their coach’s energy.
“I know it does mean a lot to him, and it’s going to mean a lot for us, as well, just because it does mean a lot to him,” Harris said. “We’re going to go out there and fight for him, and hopefully come out victorious. Just get him a second win, especially get him a win versus the alma mater.”
Traylor said he interviewed for the head coaching position at Stephen F. Austin in 2018 before the program hired Colby Carthel, one of Traylor’s longtime friends.
During Traylor’s tenure as the head coach at Gilmer (2001-14), Carthel made recruiting visits as the head coach at Texas A&m-commerce (2013-18), the defensive coordinator at West Texas A&M (2006-12) and the defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator at Abilene Christian (200005).
Traylor recalled Carthel once falling asleep in the Gilmer
coaches’ office.
“I just let him sleep, because I know how college coaches burn,” Traylor said. “He asked me if I was ever going to get into this, and I said, ‘No, there’s no way I’m ever getting out of high school. I see how you guys burn, and there’s no way I want to get that frantic of a pace.’ And he still teases me that now I’m the one falling asleep.”
On Tuesday, Traylor posed a question to his players: How many FCS teams have knocked off FBS opponents during the past five years? He said the guesses ranged anywhere from five to 25. None came close to the real answer: 38.
Traylor warned UTSA about the threat of becoming No. 39 against SFA, a Southland Conference team that jumped out to a 14-3 lead at UTEP before losing 24-14. He highlighted the Lumberjacks’ talent at quarterback and along the line of scrimmage, and he said he respects the job Carthel has done at his alma mater.
“Colby is not scared to coach,” Traylor said. “They’ll give us all we can handle. This will be the only time I’m not rooting for him, this Saturday.”