Report: Texas A&M interviews UTSA's Jeff Traylor for head coach vacancy

Following the firing of Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M is early in its search for a head coach. Athletic Director Ross Bjork has an important task ahead of him, needing to find a leader to get the Aggies back on the right track. In his words, the program is currently stuck in neutral and needs a push forward.

One of the candidates is UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor, who could be at the top of Texas A&M’s wishlist. At the very least, we now know he is a serious candidate after reportedly talking to Bjork this week.

According to Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-Statesman, Traylor interviewed for the Texas A&M job on Tuesday. Traylor is somebody with deep ties to the state of Texas, ranging from high school football and even being an assistant coach in the college game.

“Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork interviewed UTSA coach Jeff Traylor on Tuesday for the Aggies’ head football coaching vacancy, an A&M source told the American-Statesman on Thursday,” Bohl said.

“Bjork interviewed Traylor for 90 minutes on a Zoom call, a conversation that lasted an hour longer than had been scheduled.”

In the midst of his fourth season at UTSA, Traylor has an overall record of 37-13 and 27-3 against conference foes. The Roadrunners are in their first season in the AAC following their time in Conference USA. A spot in the championship game is still up for grabs with a 6-0 record heading into Friday’s game against South Florida.

Traylor is a viable Texas A&M candidate for more than just his success at UTSA. He is a well-respected coach around the state of Texas after spending 15 seasons at Gilmer High School. Three state championships came back home with Traylor at the 4A level.

Additionally, Traylor has been an assistant coach at a few big-time college programs. He jumped from the high school level to join Charlie Strong‘s staff at Texas, working as the special teams and tight ends coach. Chad Morris then hired Traylor at both SMU and Arkansas to be the assistant head coach and running backs coach.

“Me coaching in the state of Texas my entire life and the success we’ve had at Gilmer and here at UTSA,” Traylor said when asking about being linked to the Texas A&M job. “It’s natural. It means we’ve been winning a lot of ball games. It means I’ve had a group of seniors, 21 of them, that are going to play their last home game this Friday night. So, they’ve had four years of success.

“So, that speculation is always going to come up when you’ve had great players like I have. I’ve been blessed to coach them.”