Latest / The Craig Way Show / UTSA Head Football Coach Jeff Traylor joins the show!

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UTSA Head Football Coach Jeff Traylor joins the show! · The Craig Way Show

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: As we mentioned, you know, here's Texas getting ready to
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: play UTSA. And it's always a privilege and a pleasure
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: and a lot of fun to visit with a friend,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: a guy whose state championship games had the pleasure of
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: calling back when he was tearing it up at Gilmer.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Of course, the Gilmer, Texas native and the head coach
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: of the UTSA Roadrunners, Jeff Traylor, joins us. Now, I
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: appreciate the time and you look rather serene this afternoon.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: Is everything at peace given the fact that you have
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: a good football team and you're right in the belly
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: of the beast in terms of your schedule and getting
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: ready before you start American Conference play?
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: If you had just got through watching the horns rally
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: in the fourth quarter like that at DKR, how serene
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: would you be, Craig?
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: Listen, point taken. I understand.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: Let me get you to start with your team and
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: that rally to win that game in San Marcos. I
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: had it on a big laptop in the broadcast booth.
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: And the two games, starting and finishing, were overlapping. But
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: I couldn't help but... continuing to sneak a peek and
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: seeing how your guys rallied back. And I also understand this,
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: and I think you'd mentioned this once before, and I
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: know some of the players have, that it means a
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: lot in this matchup with Texas State, the I-35 rivalry
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: and all of that. And I know that all plays
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: into it, but it was about also getting a football
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: victory and getting a 2-0. How about your review overall
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: of what you've seen of your guys in the first
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: two weeks, and especially that turnaround and the comeback and
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: the win?
• 1:42
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't know how good we are. I don't
• 1:44
  Speaker 4: know if we're as talented as we have been.
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: We were intentional this portal window to get guys that
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: we knew very well. We had a relationship with. We
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: didn't chase talent as much as we have in the past.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: We chased production on the field and character. So we're
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: not as big. We're not as fast. But we have
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: unbelievable team chemistry. I think we were just grittier Saturday.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: We just lasted longer. It felt like some of my
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: older teams, I used to coach those first four years.
• 2:16
  Speaker 4: We just hung in there. We were down 17 to
• 2:18
  Speaker 4: Saturday halftime. No one blinked.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: All 78 that traveled were eyes on head coach. I
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: know that seems silly. We had great body language. I
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: told them we were getting the ball first. As long
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: as it was fourth and five, no matter where it was,
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: we were going to go for it. I didn't care
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: where it was. And wouldn't you know it would be
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: fourth and six on about my minus 40 on the
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: opening drive. And we went ahead and went for it.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: And Owen made a clutch throw. david amador made a
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: heck of a double pass they got the momentum going
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: and you know we outscored on 24 to 9 that
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: quarter uh and had a touchdown call back so 31
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: and 9 uh it was a good call on the
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: call back so 24 to.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: 9 you um have talked about that building we've talked
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: about uh your 210 and triangle of toughness and things
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: of that nature and and it's in this day and age,
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: in the ever-changing landscape of college football, and I know
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: you had some of your best players that were kind
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: of cherry-picked through the portal and things of that nature,
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: and it sounds like that you were able to go
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: back and get some other guys coming in. It sounds
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: like commitment from the administration and the athletic department and
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: things of that nature. How important is it to have
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: that type of commitment that that uh you've spoken of
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: and others have spoken of in the past in terms
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: of not only building a roster but in this day
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: and age maintaining a.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: Roster well y'all played against one of them uh Devin
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: McEwen the receiver that started on the other side of
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: Smith you know he was a I taught his mother
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: uh At Jacksonville, when I used to be a teacher
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: and a coach. That's painful, right? But I'm thrilled for him.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: We have upped it, but it's not to the level
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: anywhere near where you guys are. Like I say to everybody,
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: everybody wants to talk about Texas and Georgia and Ohio State.
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: We can't even talk about that. We've got to get
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: in the level of Tulane. We've got to get in
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: the level of South Florida, Memphis. We've got to conquer
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: our league first. As far as revenue sharing, fundraising, we
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: got to get there first. If you can win the
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: AAC and get invited to the playoffs, then you can
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: have the discussions about what's next, right?
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: We're the sixth largest city in the country.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: We got a lot of eyes on our football team,
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: but winning is what gets that going.
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: So I am grateful.
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: We have committed more, but we're far from reaching Tulane,
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: South Florida, Memphis, those guys. As far as that, but
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: I'm thrilled with my administration to move me closer. It's
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: a lot better than getting moved the other way. We
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: are moving in the right direction. We knew when we
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: got in the AAC, it moved the goalposts on us quickly.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: but then when college football changed so crazily, it really
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: moved the goalposts on our administration and me as well,
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: and we're just.
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: Trying to keep up, Craig. We really are.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: Well, and this is kind of along the lines of
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: the types of questions that I ask when we do
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: the panel discussion every year at coaching school, but does
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: the fact... that Tulane and James Madison both got in
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: and there were two G6s to get into the playoff.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: And I understand the P4s get an automatic bid now,
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: and maybe that makes the quotient a little more difficult
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: to manage, but does the fact that it has happened
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: serve as proof that that can happen, that the G6s
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: can continue to state their case, winning the proper amount
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: of games and good scheduling and all those kinds of
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: things to have a shot to get into the playoff?
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: Well, it should here because we're the only team to
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: beat them. We beat them handily at home. What you
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: can do, you can jump up. But to be consistent
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: and play week in and week out, you need real depth,
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: which means you got to have a deeper financial bucket
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: to go to to get some backups.
• 6:14
  Speaker 4: You just can't have your starters. So yes, it should,
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: and it is.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: My administration knows that we're not as far away because
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: we've done it, but we've got to invest more, and
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: we know that. But as far as compared to Texas
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: and Ohio State, we're so far.
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: Away from that.
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: When y'all won't, or not y'all, when one of our
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: kids gets to the portal and he ends up, there's
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: nothing we can do about that.
• 6:39
  Speaker 4: That number's just too large. We've got to fend off
• 6:41
  Speaker 4: the guys.
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: In our conference. Jeff Traylor's with us right now. You,
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: at say this.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: Even Matt Brown, I remember saying this to me one
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: time and saying it, that coaches love every one of
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: their teams.
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: They love them.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: They don't necessarily like every one of their teams for
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: various and sundry reasons. The impression that I've always gotten
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: from you, going all the way back to Gilmer, but
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: certainly with UTSA, is that not only do you love
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: all your teams, you try to find something to really
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: like about your group. It's safe to say you have
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: that same feeling about this group, not only that you
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: love them because you're around them and you work so hard.
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: With them, but that there's genuine things to like about
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: this group.
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: Well, I've been a head coach 22 years, so the
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: way I look at it, I've had 22 children. What
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: I mean by that is I've got three personal children.
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: I've got Jordan, I've got Jake, I've got JC. I've
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: had 22 teams as a head coach. Each one of
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: my children, they're very easy to love. Not all of
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: them are easy to like at times. One of my
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: children is easier to like. I won't name which one.
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: One of my other children is less easy to like.
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: I won't name which one. And one of my children
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: is kind of just right in the middle. They're all different.
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: God made each one of them uniquely different. It's no
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: different than your teams. I've had 22 of them. This
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: team is easy to like. We don't have as many
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: great players as we've had in the past. We're not
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: as talented as we've been. But man, all the details
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: these guys have handled, all the little bitty things these
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: guys do. Being down 17-7 on the road at your
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: rival in that heat is tremendous stress, pressure. Owen McCown
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: hadn't beaten them. They had beaten us two years in
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: a row. The way they rallied did not shock me
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: because of the people they've been since I started coaching.
• 8:44
  Speaker 4: Them in January.
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: By the way, do your three biological children know which
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: one that you like more than the other and like
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: lesser or in the middle? Do they have an inkling
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: even though you haven't told them?
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: Well, it's a moving target. They each move up and
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: down at times. And I'm the bad cop always, and
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: my wife's always the good cop. I just pray that
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: Jordan's in Minnesota right now and Jake's in Washington and
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: JC's in Manhattan and that none of them are listening
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: to Crayway's radio right now.
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: I pray.
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: All right with that i'll move forward then and ask
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: you about oh i'm gonna come first of all uh
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: give me a little history lesson i remember doing a
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: uh i want to say it was a state quarter
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: final game i may be wrong about that oh 1997
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: jacksonville texas city there was an amazing like a 31
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: 28 ball game and i think luke was playing quarterback
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: back then were you on danny longstaff at that.
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: Time That was actually Josh, Owen's father. That's right, Josh.
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: That was 1997. I was there from 93 to 2000.
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: And it's the greatest high school game I've ever been
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: a part of as an assistant. And Josh played as
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: good as I've ever seen him play. And it was
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: a joy to be on that team. And I hate
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: it for Danny. because that was our chance to win
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: a state championship for Danny still one of the best
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: games I think he's ever coached Rusty Dowling beat us
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: at Texas City they went on to win state championship
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: the next week Yeah.
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: The other thing that I remember about that, Jeff, is
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: that Texas City had a kicker kicked, I believe, about
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: a 51 or 53-yard field goal in the game, and
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: he kicked it toward the south end zone. And Kuda Robertson,
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: the old Southeast Texas radio legend who had done Huntsville's play-by-play,
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: was doing color for me on the statewide broadcast. And
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: he was dead serious when he said that, man, he
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: kicked that long enough it almost went to the walls unit.
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: Because apparently the Walls unit of the Texas State Prison
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: is not far beyond the fence of that.
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: North end zone up that way. It was something else.
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: I'll give you another memory from that game. I was
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: the special teams coordinator. They got down and had a
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: chip shot field goal to win the game. We had
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: a block that we knew was going to get there.
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: Josh's cousin, Timothy Treadwell, who's passed away since then, was
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: free right in front of the tee and was fixing
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: to block it. And that same great kicker He basically
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: hit like a sand wedge. He missed the ball, hit
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: the very bottom of the ball, and it went straight
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: up and just landed on the other side of the goalpost.
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: I was sure if he had hit it pure, Timothy
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: would have blocked that thing.
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: So I'm going to get over it one day, Craig.
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: Hey, listen, you play.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: I know you don't have much time to play a
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: lot of golf, but you play enough golf to know, obviously,
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: you're hitting behind the ball in the bunker, hitting the sand.
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: Would that be the safe way to say this on
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: that field turf that they did it?
• 11:35
  Speaker 4: There's no doubt.
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: And isn't it sad?
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: Like, I can never remember to pick up my shoes
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: or where I put my keys or where I set
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: my glass, but I can remember a play from 1997
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: and the details of that.
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: What is wrong with us? We have issues, Craig.
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: I know we do. I know we do.
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: All right, so let me pull it back on track
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: here while we've got a few more minutes.
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: I ask you about this, about Owen B.
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: And Josh, and Arch has been asked about being from
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: a quarterback family and all that, and.
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: You've coached that. You get that.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: Is there an intrinsic added element to having a quarterback
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: son of a quarterback and a coach and all that
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: sort of stuff leading your offense?
• 12:19
  Speaker 4: Oh, yeah.
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: I mean, just silly things.
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: Like, for example, we had a playing team where he
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: got stepped on his toe and he went hopping like
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: he was, you know, dead.
• 12:29
  Speaker 4: And I was watching him as his grandfather.
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: I know well, Pat, and I know all of his
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: dad and his uncles and his whole family. You know,
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: limping is just not allowed in the mechanics. So he's
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: hobbling around like he's, you know, dead. And I videoed
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: it and I sent it to Josh and his grandfather.
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: And obviously I included Owen on there. And it's just
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: literally like, you know, be tough. I mean, just good
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: old fashioned stuff. you know what they're getting told the house,
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: you know what they're being told, you know what they're,
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: you know what I mean? Like they're being told whatever
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: the coach says, freaking do it, be, be better, find
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: a way to win the game.
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: That's what the quarterbacks.
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: I mean, there's just none of this making a soft
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: bed when you come from the, the genetics that, you know,
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: Arches come from or Owens come from.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: With regard to your running back spot. I, like I said,
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: one of the, recent state championship games. It was when
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: Will Henderson was in that backfield there. But Brandon, I
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: had the big run for you there, the 25-yard.
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: Run as well.
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: How about your running back stable and what you see
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: and what you like out of that group?
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: They're good kids. They all support each other. Will goes first.
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: Uh, and Brandon comes in second and then AP has
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: a role in our team as well.
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: You know, he had a touchdown in the game as well.
• 13:51
  Speaker 4: So they're very supportive.
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: Um, you know, we, we're all about the two one
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: Oh triangle of toughness, uh, our culture, our brand. And
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: I know sort does a great job with that as well,
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: but we, we made our own individual triangles this year.
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: Like each kid has their own individual triangle.
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: Um, They're four H's, and I know Slark does this too,
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: the history, the hero, the highlight, and the hardships. They
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: have their why and why they play, their Bible verse,
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: their walk-up song, and their response mechanism to when things
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: go bad, all in their triangle. And all three of
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: those kids are really neat kids, and we allow each
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: player to talk to our team about their individual triangle,
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: just a way for us to get to know each
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: other better and quicker, Because the portal, you know, we
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: had 40 this year come to us in January, which
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: is a very high number for us personally. There are
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: many schools at 90 and 85, so I'm not complaining.
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: Still 40 is high. And it's been really cool.
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: But Will and Brandon and APs, they did three of
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: the best triangles. They're three of the best people on
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: our team.
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: I got to ask you this, because it sounds like,
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: you know, Sark likes to say, you know, the reason
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: the dinosaurs still aren't around is because they didn't adapt.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: And it sounds like you adapted because I know where
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: you came from and you didn't have a walk-up song
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: when you were playing Gilmer. And when you were coaching
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: at Gilmer, I don't know how much of that is,
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: but it sounds like part of the adjustment that you
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: made as a coach, not only from what you did
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: in high school, but especially at the college level is
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: adapting to the collegiate player environment.
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: Does that make sense?
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it just had to be faster. I give the
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: analogy like I'm from East Texas, right? So to barbecue
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: a brisket and ribs is like a real prideful thing
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: in East Texas. And, you know, a guy like me,
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: who's kind of a guy that I keep my staff
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: around for a long time, my players have never left me.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: I've had the same coaches, same players my whole life.
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: And now, so I was kind of a three-day brisket cooker.
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: My barbecue, you know, was about a three-day process. I
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: was a slow cooker. And now I've got to get
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: my brisket to taste just as good, but I've got
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: to cook it in a microwave. So they're all one-year
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: teams now, Craig. So we really expedited that process. Everything
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: we've done in August, we do in January now. And
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: the triangle is just a really good idea we have
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: for each player. And it's in their lockers downstairs. It'll
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: come with us to Austin. We'll put the same triangle
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: up in y'all's lockers down there. It's just a way
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: to expedite all of us getting to know each other.
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: Really proud of our guys about how they've accepted that.
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: Not all 117 of them have bought into doing this
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: with a beautiful, beautiful smile on their face, but all
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: 117 of them do have their triangles done.
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: I know that.
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: I realize this is a loaded question, but when you
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: look at the digital cut-ups, what really crosses your mind
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: when you look at Texas?
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: They've evaluated very well. They're really big. They're really strong.
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: They've went and got some really special pieces. Those tailbacks
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: and those receivers are just your tight ends, your line.
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: There's really nowhere I can say there's a weak spot. Obviously,
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: Arch has gotten better. Sox is going to play called
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: theirs in the country. Will has brought a level of toughness.
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: Jeff has done an always great job with the special
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: teams with you guys.
• 17:07
  Speaker 4: So I have nothing but the utmost respect.
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: I've worked there.
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: Twelve of my guys on my staff either played at
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: Texas or coach to Texas, or graduate from Texas. I mean,
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: hear me, 12. So we've got a ton of respect.
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: We know about that place and what it's about. So
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: there's nothing I can say negative. And Sark and I
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: are good friends. I like Sark. So I'm rooting for
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: him except for this Saturday.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: The final thing I have for you here is also
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: the impression that I've got, and really just watching your
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: team and what you've described is– Whatever the environment is,
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: they're not really allowing the moment to get too big
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: for them. So you have a lot of confidence that
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: they can walk into the stadium there on Saturday night
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: and there's 100,000 and all that other stuff going on
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: and still feel comfortable in the environment in the moment.
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: And it's a matter of just going out and executing
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: at this point. Is that right?
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: Well, Texas State had an unbelievable home field advantage, but
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: what Chris Del Conte has done at DKR is on
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: another level. I mean, to say the least, it was
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: nowhere near that way when I was there. And he
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: is just, it is the most amazing home crowd ever.
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: when we played some great ones now. We played against
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: some really great teams in the SEC. But there's no
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: place like what y'all have done now. I don't know
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: how you get a team prepared for that. We're doing
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: the best we can, obviously. But it's y'all's music, when
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: y'all play it, how loud y'all play it, all the
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: things y'all do to distract the opponents.
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: It's really on another level.
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: So much, much respect to the administration of the University
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: of Texas and what they've done behind the scenes.
• 18:47
  Speaker 4: And I hope my team can handle this.
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: This is the most daunting task we will have because
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: of the quality of coaching, the quality of the players,
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: and the quality of the atmosphere.
• 18:56
  Speaker 3: Well, you're a quality individual.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: I always enjoy visiting with you wherever we are, whether
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: it's at coaching school or someplace else or obviously in
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: the stadium as well. And I'm indebted to you for
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: taking a few minutes to join us today.
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: I appreciate it, Jeff. Craig, it's easy to be good
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: to you. You've been good to a lot of people
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: for many, many years. And you treated me the same many,
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: many years ago as you do this day. And I'm
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: grateful for our friendship, man. God bless and birds up.
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: Thank you. See you Saturday. Yes, sir.
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: That's Jeff Traylor, head coach of the UTSA Roadrunners. We'll
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: have more coming up when we continue on 13 Under
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: the Zone.