Why former UTSA players still root for Jeff Traylor

When Tate Sandell, who would eventually win the Lou Groza Award for Oklahoma, informed UTSA coach Jeff Traylor he was entering the transfer portal, Traylor was the “maddest” he’d ever been.

“Tate was the one I treated the worst,” he admitted. “I threw my hat, acted like a baby.”

At the time, Traylor was still grappling with the rapidly changing state of college football. But even then, he knew his reaction wasn’t representative of who he was as a coach.

“I regret it. I told him I’m sorry,” Traylor said.

The college football world Traylor took by storm in the early 2020s doesn’t exist anymore. The shift in the player-coach power dynamic, alongside a couple of underwhelming seasons, has forced Traylor to reassess every area of his operation. Traylor made more changes to his staff than ever in 2026, but stopping there wasn’t enough for someone who’s lived by, “If it ain’t broke, break it.”

If he really wanted to turn his program around, Traylor had to look inward and adjust his mindset on a foundational level. Things were changing, and it wasn’t always fair, but, for Traylor, letting his circumstances alter his behavior, like Sandell’s exit did, was not what he wanted for himself, or his program.

“It’s the new me,” he said. “If you’re for the players, you’ve got to be for them forever. If I’m really always their coach, I’m always their coach.”

Traylor has seen many talented players leave via the transfer portal: Zakhari Franklin, Devin McCuin, Patrick Overmyer, Sandell. The list could go on.

But Traylor maintains a positive relationship with all of them.

“I want those kids to have success,” he said. “[I’m] still in touch with Patrick, all of them. Devin, all of them. They all stay in touch with me. It’s a new world, man. That’s my job here at UTSA. My job is to find them, recruit and develop them.

“If they want to go to greener pastures, they go and I’m going to be cheering for them until the very end. I just hope, when they get drafted, they give us a shout out so I can keep getting players here.”

Even Sandell, who got it the worst from Traylor, still tuned in to the Roadrunners’ pivotal matchup against South Florida.

“He hits me up Thursday, let’s me know he’s going to be having a couple sweet teas while he’s watching the game,” Traylor said. “As soon as the game’s over, [he] hits me up, thrilled for Michael [Petro] and our kids as well.”

Sandell’s exit was an eye-opening moment for Traylor, one that surely hurt at the time, but ultimately prompted a positive change – a change he hopes resonates with recruits considering UTSA as their next destination.

“More than anything, for me, I hope it sends a spiritual message, to be honest with you,” Traylor said. “That’s what the Bible commands us to do. And I should be more like that. That’s where it really struck me, right in my heart. Was I really living the cross that I have hanging out?

“That’s where it hits me, right between the eyes, honestly. It was good for me to be challenged. I needed to wake up myself.”