UTSA's Jeff Traylor hasn't coached at Neyland, but he's been told 'there's no other place like it'

Jeff Traylor made a name for himself as a Texas High School football coach, spending 15 years and winning three state championships as the head coach at Gilmer High School. From there he jumped into college football as special teams and tight ends coach at Texas and made moves to SMU and Arkansas before taking over as head coach at UTSA in 2020.

But he’s no stranger to taking his Roadrunners into big environments.

His first UTSA team went to BYU’s LaVell Edwards Stadium in 2020. He went back to Austin last season, with UTSA playing in front of an announced crowd of 102,520 at Darrell K. Royal Stadium. It was a tie game at halftime, at 17-17, before Texas pulled away in a 41-20 win

Still, he has no experience with Neyland Stadium. Instead, all he can do is rely on what he’s heard. And he’s heard big things.

‘I’ve heard everything we’ve experienced, it’s even more so’

“I’ve got a lot of buddies that have (coached at Neyland) and a lot of buddies on the (Tennessee) staff,” Traylor said this week. “Coach (Josh) Heupel used to recruit my school when he was at Oklahoma. And he signed a lot of our kids, you know, from Gilmer, so I know Josh really well.

“We know a lot of those guys well and talk to people that have played there. (They say) there’s no other place like it. It’s what we’ve been told as far as the noise and. It’ll be exciting for our kids to experience that.”

No. 23 Tennessee (2-1) hosts UTSA (1-2) on Saturday (4 p.m. Eastern Time, SEC Network) at Neyland, where the Vols have won 10 straight games and have sold out seven in a row. 

Traylor said after his team’s practice on Wednesday that the noise of a hostile road environment is something a coaching staff has to address up front and prepare for throughout the week.

“You gotta go over it and you gotta practice it the best you can,” Traylor said. “It’s tough. It was similar, I would imagine, to what we’ve experienced. But I’ve heard everything we’ve experienced, it’s even more so. We’ll find out Saturday, about 4 O’Clock Eastern.”

Tennessee didn’t handle its first true road game of the season well last week, committing 10 penalties for 79 yards and giving up a costly turnover at Florida, while the Gators built a 26-7 halftime lead and coasted to a 29-16 win.

No. 23 Tennessee vs. UTSA, Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, SEC Network

UTSA has been a tough out on the road against bigger programs. BYU beat the Roadrunners 27-20 in Provo in October 2020. UTSA won 37-30 at Illinois to start last season and lost at home, 37-35, in triple overtime against Houston in the 2022 season opener.

After losing at Texas two weeks later, the Roadrunners won 10 straight games on their way to a second straight Conference USA championship. 

UTSA lost 17-14 at Houston three weeks ago and responded with a win over Texas State a week after Texas State upset Baylor on the road. Army beat UTSA 37-29 last week in San Antonio, while the Roadrunners were missing redshirt senior starting quarterback Frank Harris, who will be a game-time decision on Saturday.

Traylor said on Wednesday he knows UTSA will be facing a Tennessee team looking to respond.

“Playing a really, really tough opponent … top-25 (team),” he said. “What Coach Heupel has done there has been really remarkable. Tennessee’s always had every single thing you need to win. They’re doing that now. 

“So we know we’re gonna play a very angry, upset team. They’ve lost their conference opener on the road to a very good Florida team, so we know we’re gonna get their best.”