SAN ANTONIO — "We’re gonna win. When, W-H-E-N? I don’t know. But W-I-N, it’s gonna happen."
That was Jeff Traylor's promise when he was introduced as the new head coach of Roadrunners football inside the Alamodome in December 2019, and he's certainly delivered on it.
Traylor has taken the Roadrunners to heights they'd never experienced before his arrival, most recently collecting back-to-back Conference USA championships over last two seasons. Now his team is poised to make a push for the American Athletic Conference championship in their debut season with the conference.
Traylor had college assistant coaching stops at Texas, Arkansas and SMU before landing in San Antonio. But his story starts even before all of that, in a little east Texas town of about 5,000 called Gilmer.
Traylor both played and eventually returned as the head coach, guiding the Gilmer High Buckeyes to three state championships in his 15 years leading the program. We visited the community this summer to learn about Traylor's coaching origins... and to see firsthand how the good folks there see him now.
'He's everything'
We spent parts of two days around Gilmer, where, just like most places in Texas, you'll come across some of the best people you'll ever meet.
And if they had one thing in common, it's that they sure did love talking about their beloved Coach Traylor.
"The big joke after the second state championship was: In Gilmer, Texas, it is God, Jeff Traylor and family," said east Texas sportswriter Elwyn Henderson.
"Well, the stadium is named after him, so that’s one thing, and he’s still alive. So that’s pretty rare," said current Gilmer Head football coach Alan Metzel, smiling.
It didn't take long – no time at all, actually – to understand that Traylor is legend in and around Gilmer.
"Oh my gosh," said longtime Gilmer assistant coach Randal Canady. "He is like God. He’s everything.
"He will outwork everybody," said Gilmer ISD Superintendent Rick Albritton. "That is one of the things that is different about him. The other thing is he’s kind of like a pied piper with the kids. When the kids realize that he cares more about them than he does the program, they’ll do anything for him."
Coach Canady, and we can assume he was speaking for all of Gilmer, hasn't been surprised one bit with Coach Traylor's UTSA success.
"When he went to UTSA, we already knew he was gonna be top dog because he works so hard," he said. "He’s gonna make sure the kids look good, but he’s gonna make sure they work hard. Everybody in east Texas knew that he was gonna be a success."
Considering Gilmer is in a part of Texas that is SEC and Big 12 country, does the community feel some secondhand Roadrunners fever?
According to Metzel: yes.
"As soon as he was hired it was Roadrunner country in this area," Metzel said.
It wasn't hard to spot. At Huey's Coffee, everybody was excited to toss up the "Birds Up" hand sign or join in with some U-T-S-A chants.
Yes, Gilmer knows about UTSA football.
And Gilmer knows why UTSA football has found success as a new Texas college powerhouse.
"If you want your kids to be successful, if you want your program to be successful, if you want the community cared about, I don’t think there’s anybody better," said Albritton.
"Nobody else UTSA could have hired would have done any better than Jeff Traylor has done," Henderson added. "I would say there’s a 99% chance that nobody else they could have hired would have done what Jeff Traylor has done in such a short period of time.
Canady's advice for San Antonio: Cherish Traylor's time here, for however long his tenure lasts.
"You won’t find a better human being or coach," Canady said. "I’m telling you, he is gonna make sure that UTSA and the City of San Antonio are well-represented," he added.
High school football fans in Gilmer would have kept Traylor for the rest of his coaching days if they could have, but they also probably knew he was gonna eventually climb the ladder.
"He always knew that he was gonna be excellent at what he did," said Henderson.
In addition to icon, Canady called Traylor ones of his closest friends. And Albritton remembers a specific detail after all this time:
"I don’t know if he still has it on his desk," Albritton said, "but there were always two things on his desk: One is his bible, and the other is a picture of his family. Because when he makes a decision, he has to consider those two things. That’s who he is."