UTSA goes with Texas ties in hiring Jeff Traylor as coach

SAN ANTONIO (AP) - UTSA is tapping strong Texas ties in a coach for the first time going into the program's ninth season, hiring Jeff Traylor Monday and giving the former Arkansas assistant his first shot at running a college team.

Traylor was an associate head coach at Texas and SMU before taking the same title at Arkansas under Chad Morris, who was fired last month in the middle of his second season.

Before joining the Longhorns in 2015, Traylor coached at his high school alma mater in Gilmer in East Texas. He led Gilmer to three state titles and two other appearances in state championship games in 15 years. The school named its stadium after him this year.

Traylor replaces Frank Wilson, who was fired after going 4-8 in his fourth season. Wilson's roots were in Louisiana. UTSA hired former Miami coach Larry Coker to start the program in San Antonio. Coker led the Hurricanes to a national championship in 2001.

After 25 years in the Texas high school coaching ranks, Traylor spent two seasons at Texas and one at SMU before following Morris to Arkansas. He was a walk-on in the late 1980s at Stephen F. Austin, about 85 miles from his hometown.

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