2020 UTSA Football
Media Roundtable
Nov. 9, 2020
Head Coach Jeff Traylor
On the cause of the postponement of the Rice game …
"(We were) in a position, due to injury, positive testing and contact tracing, we would not have been able to play the game. I got a call from Nik (Turner) at about 8:30 p.m. on Thursday night. Whenever Nik calls, it is never good. If he texts, it's a good thing, but if he calls, you know it is a bad thing. It was, and we were on the phone for the next two or three hours trying to figure it out. With contact tracing, it takes some time to figure all of that out. I had to make a decision. On Friday morning, we announced it to our team at around 8 a.m. and went public with it shortly thereafter."
On if he is hopeful to play against UTEP …
"Yes, hopeful would be a good word. We were tested again today and tested again Friday. We are still waiting for results. I don't ever feel good until my headsets are on, I see the ball kicked off the tee and I know we are getting to play. There are so many things that are uncontrollable. I think we need to be very careful. The young men that tested positive don't need to be shamed or made to feel bad. I have had a couple coaches test positive. Not recently, this was a while ago, but one of those coaches I know wears his mask everywhere he goes. He always wears his mask. He has it on everywhere I see him, and he tested positive. I think we just have to be very careful that we don't make them feel bad because we have a 0.38 positive rate of testing. That is pretty phenomenal for a bunch of kids who have been tested as many times as they have been tested."
On what has to happen for the team to play UTEP on Saturday …
"I don't want to get too specific on that. Not because I am trying to hide anything, but Dan (Bellamy) and Nik (Turner) take care of all of that. I know there have been some changes made to the policies, and I know Dan and Nik are very well aware of it. I just get my injury report and see who is going to be back and who is not going to be back. We just try to build a plan from there."
On how many players tested positive and how many are out due to contact tracing …
"We are not sure on the contact tracing yet. Obviously, we have more testing coming. We had two in the Athletics cohort who have tested positive. Contact tracing is still being done. Some of that might change, and injuries were involved as well. Hopefully that might change. That is where we are."
On how early in the week recovered players need to get adjusted back to the level of competition before game day …
"In a normal year, I would say if they don't practice on Tuesday and Wednesday, they are not going to play on Saturday. This year is just so different. We are just trying to play a game. If you are playing a hard stance right now that if you were not at practice all week and get released on Thursday or Friday that you won't play, there would not be a roster to play this year. Things have to be different. Each kid is different. Each kid is different. Each position is different. In the old days, I would have a hard stance that if you don't practice on Tuesday and Wednesday, you are not going to play on Saturday. This year, I have changed on that. It depends on how good your backup is. Can your backup go play at the level you need? Is it going to matter if you play the game or not? There are a lot of factors involved. It is just not that simple this year. Everything is just very complicated. It is very vague. It is not the way coaches want to live. It is very uncomfortable, but that is just the way 2020 has done for all of us."
On how the team handled the Rice postponement …
"They were crushed. We all love football, don't get me wrong. We did not get into this because of practice. We love to play the game, and we had done all of the work. If you think back to last week, we were really physical Monday, physical Wednesday, very physical Thursday, which is unlike what we had done in the previous weeks. I was very disappointed in how we tackled against FAU, and we did not protect our quarterback very well at FAU. We really tried to heighten that awareness. We had put in three really good days of work. We were in there on Friday expecting a walk-through and getting to go play the game. The fun part of the week was still coming. They were crushed they didn't get to play. The coaches were too. We all were. That is tough. It was a really terrible feeling. I had to look all those kids in the face, and coaches too. The safety of our players has always been first and foremost. The contact tracing is always the part that is dicey on this deal. If you test positive, you are out 10 days. If you contact trace, you are out 14 days. Then there is the Saban Rule that is involved that now, you just don't know. You get up every day. Today we just finished testing again. Who knows what that is going to look like? It was tough to tell our team. Our team handled it well. I told them my reaction at first. My reaction was that I was mad and wanted to blame somebody. Then I calmed down and realized I didn't need to act that way. That is a human reaction, a natural reaction. Our players were pretty similar to me. They were upset at first, but then when they calmed down, they knew I gave them Friday and Saturday off, that made them feel a little better. We got a good practice in last night."
On if he had been planning on a moment there would be a game cancellation …
"I don't know. That is a great question. I have literally been living day to day. As I saw it rising in the country, I wondered if we had done this backward. We are at 0.38 percent where most teams, a lot of them got it, and now they are not having to test anymore if they already had it. We have not been that way. We have been fighting it this entire time. My common sense had been telling me that at some point it was probably going to hit my team. We just had to be very careful right now that this thing does not get to our team. We are not to that level. I will know a lot more after today's test. Any time you get a positive or two, your first reaction is, 'What is that next test going to be like?' I will admit, I am a little apprehensive right now. We just have to be very careful right now and not assume that the person who tested positive was being nonchalant or not diligent. Who knows? I don't think anybody knows exactly how this all goes down yet."
On when the Rice game will be rescheduled …
"I know they are looking at that. There is some discussion because Marshall is an East (Division) team, and Rice is a West team. On those decisions, I don't get too much into the policy. That decision is going to be made by the powers above me. Obviously, I hope that goes in our favor, but if not, it is what it is."
On the scouting report on UTEP …
"Much improved again. I said the same thing about Rice, but UTEP is just very improved. Their quarterback plays very good. He has a good arm. They have two very good wide receivers. They have got a good running back. They have two very good offensive linemen. The defense is very much improved. They are just a much better football team, and they have won enough games that they are feeling confident. They are 3-3. They are playing like a team that knows they are a lot better. It will be a very good game on Saturday."
On how he feels about the season …
"We wanted to lay a groundwork of what we are going to be. Our culture piece is what we have really focused hard on. Our Triangle of Toughness, our 210 brand in the city and working our way out has been a major focus point. We want to be very physical on defense. We feel like there are times that we have been very physical. We want to take a lot of pride in team run. We want our team to feel great about running the football. We have been very successful with that at times, and at times we haven't. We want to take a lot of pride in our special teams with our starters playing and taking a lot of pride in playing. At times we have been very good at that. I know the groundwork has been laid. We have been competitive in all eight ball games. Are we perfect? No sir. We are not anywhere near that, but we do feel like our culture piece has been established and our 210 Triangle of Toughness brand is not just lip service. It is something that our kids really believe in."
On if there are any concerns or complications with UTEP traveling since El Paso has been a COVID-19 hot spot …
"Dr. (Lisa) Campos will be in charge of all of that. She will be in contact with their Athletic Director. I just try to do my job the very best I can. I trust Dr. Campos. She has done a fantastic job all year making sure we have games. She keeps me informed and makes sure that I know what is going on. I am sure she will do the same thing this week. I have not heard anything. I know that UTEP has not played in two weeks, so I know their kids are dying to play just like our kids are dying to play."
