UTSA Football Media Roundtable
Nov. 22, 2021
Head Coach Jeff Traylor
On soaking in the aftermath of the win against UAB …
"I never sleep well after a game because my adrenaline runs through me all night. I never get more than two hours of sleep the night after a game. I was a little fanboy on Twitter, acting like a little child having fun. In that moment, I am not allowed to go there in my mind because I have to do my best to appear that I know what I am doing and coach a football team. I would say, I watched the final play 15-20 times."
On his analysis of the final drive of the UAB game …
"A play that has not been talked about enough is J.T. (Clark) having the wherewithal to get out of bounds and stop the clock with 39 seconds left. He breaks that tackle and gets out bounds which allows us to go down the sideline to him. Frank (Harris) to Oscar (Cardenas) to get us down the field was an unbelievable throw in a two-deep zone. Our composure our kids kept. Another play to go back and watch, the snap was low. Watch Sincere (McCormick) with his foot. He is about to kick that ball into the end zone because he didn't see it down there. He realized the ball was below his foot. He lifts his foot up and allows Frank to pick it up. There are so many little bitty things that if you go back and watch that drive are phenomenal. You hear me say all the time, 'A champion has the ability to play one play longer than his opponent,' and we literally played one play longer than our opponent."
On getting the team prepared for North Texas …
"Let's be honest. North Texas can ruin our season. They have won four games in a row. They have been beat by good teams. They are hot right now. Guess what? We can ruin their season too. That is going to be our mantra. 'They are going to try to ruin ours, and we are going to try to ruin theirs.' We are going to stay right there. We are not going to discuss the conference championship game other than what April Ancira is already doing to get our students in that game. I think that is a huge deal by her to have that, planning ahead to be in front of that. For her to be so unselfish to help our kids like that, I thought that was unbelievable. Other than that, I am not going to talk about the conference championship game."
On his staff's preparation for North Texas with a championship game the following week …
"There is no balance. It is 100% North Texas. We are not even discussing it. It is 100% North Texas."
On what the support of the fanbase means to him …
"I just want them to know who we are. If we can just be something for one person, to make their day or make them smile, and encourage them to touch one more person and make them smile. The Lord has given me an unbelievable platform, and I want to use it correctly. I feel a tremendous responsibility to uphold that. I am a human. I make mistakes, but my motives are always pure. My heart is always pure. I just want people to know how much our team loves them. We want to be the football team of San Antonio."
On what it would mean to go undefeated in the regular season this year …
"It is appropriate to talk about it now because it is the next one. You don't get to do this very much in football. I would rather reflect when the season is over. I am going to try to stay true to my culture pillar and win the day today. Hopefully, if the Lord is willing, if you ask me that question after the game on Saturday, I can answer it appropriately."
