Jeff Traylor on UTSA's AAC Move: "I didn't want to do it"

G5 Football Daily Staff | Aug 22, 2024

Dec 16, 2022; Orlando, Florida, USA; UTSA Roadrunners head coach Jeff Traylor reacts to a call during the second quarter against the Troy Trojans at Exploria Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-USA TODAY Sports / Mike Watters-USA TODAY Sports

In the realignment era, where school presidents and athletic directors are looking to keep their programs in the best position to succeed, UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor was initially hesitant to see his team make the move from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference.

During an appearance with the Horns247 Flagship Podcast with 247Sports’ Eric Henry and Chip Brown, Traylor was candid about initially being resistant to the move.

“I didn't want to do it and I didn't think we were ready,” said Traylor. “I thought we could have stayed right there and been [what] Liberty [was] last year.”

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UTSA’s fifth-year head coach noted the pace of realignment in his reasoning for being somewhat hesitant to make a move.

“Things were just moving so fast and then you get in that league with Memphis and South Florida, you're talking about some guys now,” said Traylor. “It almost felt like we were late and these guys have been cooking some grease for a long time, and I didn't want to do it then.”

During UTSA’s first season in the American, Traylor and his team didn’t miss a beat after making the move, winning nine games and going 7-1 in league play.

Traylor noted that his reasoning was looking at things purely from a coach’s perspective and that he understands why the move was made from a larger point of view.

”We rolled off and had a heck of a year last year winning nine games and we had won seven games going into Tulane and then turned it over five times,” said Traylor.

“Our school president [Taylor Eighmy] knows what's up, I didn't know we were fixing to be this, whatever we are now, this unbelievable $1.1 billion endowment, 40,000 students and all this stuff that he's doing as of today. He knows way more than what I know and I’m more than happy with where we are now and where we’re going.”