2021 UTSA Football
Media Roundtable
Sept. 27, 2021
Head Coach Jeff Traylor
On what it meant for the team to come back from a 21-point deficit against Memphis …
"It is the epitome of our culture. You got to see it live and in person, down 21-0. We kept our head down and tried to win the next play to keep stacking one great play on top of another great play to get the lead down to at least one score at the end of the fourth quarter. We felt like as many kids we play and as hard as we play, eventually they would crack. The hit Kelechi (Nwachuku) put on the running back, it was not so much just that hit. It was all of the hits. It was the hit in the first quarter, the hit in the second quarter and the hit in the third quarter. It just started showing up in the fourth quarter."
On the importance of the older players buying into the culture …
"It is all of it, every bit of it. When you are on the road in a hostile environment, the temperature was hot, the turf was hot, there was nothing going our way. It does not matter. I could say all of these words and talk about integrity, passion and toughness, if those players don't do it. It is a player-led team. It is the players. It is not me. I am just a tool that the Lord has used to put here. It is those players that have bought into the strength staff, the coaching staff and have been fantastic. I say it all the time, but I am the luckiest man in the world to be able to coach these kids every day whether they lose or win. I am not going to change. This is unconditional love, and those kids know that. If Hunter (Duplessis) misses that kick, he is still the same Hunter Duplessis. He is one of the greatest individuals that I have coached in my life. We are not going to go away. We believe in each other too much. We do need help. We want to be like Memphis. We want this to last. We don't want to be a flash in the pan or just one great team. We need help, whether it's a like on Twitter or getting tickets and getting your tail to the game on Saturday or the ability to write large checks, whatever it may be, this city, this university and this city deserves it. It is going to take all of us, and there are people in San Antonio looking to help a good cause, and these kids are a great cause."
On UTSA being a special place …
"The people are such good people. There are just good humans who really want San Antonio to be what we know it can be. We want this university to be what we know it should be. We have great kids. It is such a neat place. We have a very multi-cultural city with a bunch of humble, good people that deserve a great sports program to cheer for. I know we have the Spurs and other things, but this is the state of Texas. This is a football state. I love hoops as much as anybody, but we need to get this thing going. It could be very special and something that we can all talk about while drinking sweet tea. I want it to last. I want this thing to be something that every single year sports writers, the fan base and high school coaches are excited about what our team is going to look like that year. We have the ability to do that."
On his plan to keep the team focused for the UNLV game …
"I teased them yesterday and told them that if I needed to go buy 120 rat traps to put in their lockers or drink a whole gallon of queso to prove what that will do to a human, I will do whatever it takes to get their attention. When we turn (UNLV) video on and start watching their athletes, they will understand that they have really good athletes and are well coached. They are a pro-like team. They are sophisticated and do a lot of schemes. They will give us all that we can handle on Saturday, and it is going to be a heck of a ball game."
On Sincere McCormick's workload on the field …
"I have never seen anything like him. I talked to our team about him yesterday. You cannot take those kinds of kids for granted. They are special people that can carry the ball 42 times. It is the way he does it. He never has an easy run. He is always in there striking somebody. He is the best four and a half yard runner in college football. He is special. Brenden Brady went out there and ran the ball great as well. He made a great back-shoulder throw to Zakhari (Franklin). I am really proud of Sincere. We all need to really appreciate that. There will be a day that we look back and go, 'Sincere McCormick did that for our university.'"
