‘Bull don’t care’ as ’Runners try to repeat 2021’s soaring success
Traylor, players eager to prove themselves again for 2022 season
Looking for a new mantra to lead UTSA into the first day of spring practice, coach Jeff Traylor turned to the words of professional bull rider Tuff Hedeman.
A four-time world champion during the ’80s and ’90s, Hedeman once responded to a question about his ability to repeat success by saying, “The bull won’t care what I did last week.”
As UTSA looks to reset after a record-breaking season and Conference USA championship in 2021, Traylor hopes the Roadrunners can adopt Hedeman’s mindset.
“When he gets back on that bull, that bull doesn’t care whether he won it or not,” Traylor said. “No one is going to care that we won it last year. ... Are we going to be a blip on the radar, a flash in the pan, or are we built to last? Do we have what it takes to sustain championship football? That’s what we mean by, ‘The bull don’t care.’ ”
One year ago, UTSA was holding spring practice on a rec field, yet to open the new Roadrunner Athletics Center of Excellence. The Roadrunners had no idea what was in store for 2021, which brought 11 straight wins, a run in the national rankings, a 10-year extension for Traylor, a C-USA championship and a move to the American Athletic Conference.
But as quarterback Frank Harris prepares for the start of his sixth year at UTSA, he said the achievements don’t alter the goals for the spring — a time to “build the brand and build the program and just keep getting better each and every day.”
“Last year is last year’s team. This is a brand-new team, so we have to go out there and prove ourselves once again,” Harris said. “Regardless of the season we had last year, we have to come out this year with the same mindset we had last year, so we can try to repeat what we did.”
After arriving at UTSA in December 2019, Traylor said his focus through the first year was defining and implementing what came to be known as his “210 Triangle of Toughness” culture.
When the Roadrunners outpaced projections with a 7-5 season, Traylor’s mantra for his
second year became, “As expectations rise, our culture has to rise to match it.”
Part of his preparation for the 2021 campaign was rereading the 2001 Jim Collins book “Good to Great,” which delves into the techniques that spurred thriving companies to vault their success to a higher level.
Following the breakthroughs of 2021, Traylor is looking to Collins’ 1991 title “Built to Last,” which covers the habits that allow prosperous companies to remain on top.
Traylor also continues to talk to the Roadrunners about some of the great civilizations in history and the factors that led to their downfalls, emphasizing that “a lot of it is forgetting where you come from.” When potential recruits tour the RACE facility, Traylor shows them pictures of the team’s old weight room and locker room.
The current players, too, hear regular reminders of their roots and the journey to reach last season’s heights.
“We do try to remind them. Factually, we are Conference USA champions. This is something they need to be proud of,” Traylor said. “But factually, nobody cares. They’re going to be coming to take that away from us.”
For safety Rashad Wisdom, the energy during Monday’s practice was a signal the players
are “ready to put that season behind us and work toward this season.”
As he prepares to enter his senior year in 2022, Wisdom said he recognizes how far the program has come, but he can see that “expectations just keep rising.”
“That’s the kind of mentality we have. We have to keep on going, and the bull don’t care,” Wisdom said. “Regardless of how we did last season, two
years ago, this is a whole new season. We have to come in with the mindset to work every day.”
Wisdom said the Roadrunners will be a “whole new team” in 2022, looking to replace a group of standouts including running back Sincere Mccormick, cornerback Tariq Woolen, left tackle Spencer Burford, linebackers Clarence Hicks and Charles Wiley and defensive linemen Jaylon Haynes and Lorenzo Dantzler.
Identifying new fits in those areas will be a primary focus for Traylor through the next few weeks.
“I can’t tell you how many guys today in stretch line, I looked them right in the eye and said, ‘This is a very, very important spring for you,’ ” Traylor said. “We’re excited about that task of rebuilding this team, and just to see what the future holds for us.”
Traylor senses the energy around the program, as well, noticing more cameras and media attention compared to last spring.
On the field, the Roadrunners delivered “by far our most organized first practice we’ve had together,” Traylor said, brushing off the windy conditions and temperatures in the 40s that led Traylor to jokingly call Monday the “first day of winter ball.”
He credited the cohesive start partly to UTSA’S staff continuity, as the Roadrunners retained the bulk of their personnel despite losing offensive coordinator Barry Lunney to Illinois and co-defensive coordinator Rod Wright to Miami during the past two months.
Harris said new co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Will Stein, UTSA’S pass game coordinator and receivers coach in 2021, kept the same playbook and terminology while integrating a style that will “take a lot of risks.”
Co-offensive coordinator Matt Mattox is also an internal promotion after coaching offensive line last year, while defensive coordinator Jess Loepp reprises the role he shared with Wright in 2021.
“There’s always a slight adjustment,” Traylor said. “I did have some fun with the defense today, poking the bear a little bit about that. They assured me that they’ll still be just fine, so we’ll find out.”