SAN ANTONIO — Everybody knows the UTSA Football head man in Jeff Traylor, but not everyone knows his little brother, Kurt, the program's offensive line coach and running game coordinator. We well wanted to get the brothers side by side, and we did that during UTSA Football media day. The conversation was fun, and meaningful.
The Traylor brothers, together, with Jeff as the head coach and Kurt as an assistant, won three state titles at Gilmer High School. And they've once since enhanced their career resume's with two conference championships at UTSA including the Roadrunners first bowl win last season at the Frisco Bowl in north Dallas.
The very first question in the interview was to ask Kurt if his big brother was still giving him a hard time all these years later.
"That's a given," he said, smiling. 'It has been great not to just have a brother, but a role model. I've known Kurt since he was born in 1971," said Jeff. "1970," interrupted Kurt. "Wow," said Jeff.
Jeff told us that having assistant's like Kurt, someone where there is obviously overwhelming trust at this point in life, is invaluable these days.
"Whatever he says the head man (himself) is probably going to sign off on."
We talked about how much credit Kurt deserves for the offensive success the program has had under the two of them, the little brother in this case.
"He's very creative," said Jeff. "He knows me and knows really what I wanna do and how I wanna do it. We see the game similar. I've gotten better as I've become the head coach at my commitment to running the football and I know that helps him. It's not like I can blame the offensive line coach. We have the same last name. I've heavily involved with the play of our offensive line to say the least. He deserves credit for the culture and the toughmindedness of our team."
And all the X's and O's talk had me wondering about the other Coach Traylor. Would he ever be a head coach?
"I don't," said Kurt. "I really don't. I enjoy being an assistant coach. I did it (head coach role) at Tyler and enjoyed it there. Jeff's job is 24/7, 365."
And then this is where the interview got fun.
"So is that why you still have hair and Jeff doesn't," I asked?
"That's from raising him," Jeff said, laughing. "The truth comes out!," I quipped. "No doubt!," said Jeff.
"The good Lord found a way to punish him for being mean to me when we were growing up," said Kurt, with Jeff laughing.
"He struck him with baldness," said Kurt. "That could be," said Jeff with everyone in the room laughing. "That's how I look at it," said Kurt.
We got a little more serious after that, with the laughs out of the way, well almost anyway.
I asked Kurt if there was anything we still don't know about who Jeff Traylor is.
"Yah," he said. "But it's gonna take a lot of money for you to get it out of me," he said, again smiling.
"That's why it's good to have brothers," said Jeff, laughing and smiling, too.
"What you see is who he is as a person," said Kurt. "There is nothing fake about him. I love working for somebody that says here is your job description, come in and do that job to the best of your ability and I'll leave you alone. I would only work for one head coach, and that's him."
Jeff echoed those thoughts and added to them.
"It is almost fairytale-like that I got to start my career with my brother and we'll finish our careers together one way or the other," he said. "Hopefully we ride off into the sunset, but that's not usually the way it works in this business. As long as I'm still laughing, crying and competing, I'm gonna be up doing this as long as you guys will have me."
"And with him (Kurt) right alongside too right?" I asked.
"Oh he ain't go anywhere," Jeff said with a big smile. "He's knows I take too good of care of him," Jeff said as Kurt laughed.
The Roadrunners open their season Saturday afternoon at the Alamodome hosting Kennesaw State. #BirdsUp