Jeff Traylor edit
Wed, Aug 09, 2023 4:44PM • 32:55
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
coach, people, great, paul, win, head coach, players, good, man, game, utsa, talked, pillars, coordinators, love, team, trailer, thought, job, mentor
SPEAKERS
Paul Barnett, Jeff Traylor
Paul Barnett 00:00
Coach trailer. Good morning, a rather good afternoon, your time and welcome to the great coaches podcast.
Jeff Traylor 00:07
Thanks for having me. I appreciate it look forward to?
Paul Barnett 00:10
Well, I'm gonna start off with something really simple. Can you tell us where you are in the world and what you've been up to so far today?
Jeff Traylor 00:17
Yeah. I'm the head coach at UTSA. Obviously, going on your full word. Today, I got four official visitors coming in tonight. So we'll have three D lineman and an O lineman in here. So we'll be recruiting this weekend. And pretty much since the bowl season has been over, we've had visitors on campus every single weekend. It's where the transfer portal in IRL, it's just, it's your your recruiting all the time now.
Paul Barnett 00:47
So we're going to talk about recruiting because I know how important it is to you. But I'd like to go on a bit of a journey, actually, before we get there. And I want to start by just asking you about a couple of the great coaches you've worked with. I know there's Charlie strong and there's Chad Morris, and I'm sure there's been a pile others that you've seen from the other side of the pitch on the other side of the field as he call it in America. But guys trailer, I'm wondering, what do you think the great coaches do differently? That sets them apart?
Jeff Traylor 01:17
I don't think there's a cookie cutter. Paul, I think there's a lot of ways to do it. I'm gonna say something that is quite obvious, they've all got a great quarterback, that's, that's where it starts, you got to, you gotta have a great quarterback. And from there. There's a lot of ways to skin a cat.
And obviously, the head coach's job is to have the best players and whoever has the best players has the best chance to win the game. So what does that mean? The best players? Well, you got to identify them, then you got to recruit him. But the piece that doesn't get talked about the most to me is the developmental phase we all spend so much time talking about is a two star a three star or what is he when he leaves you? I mean when he leaves you what is the that's your job, you've got four to five years to change the unmanned helping and that developmental piece, however you get that done. And like I said, when you first asked a question, there's a lot of ways to skin a cat. But whether that's you're really good at X's and O's, whether that you're really good with developing the soul, whether that means you're really good at developing the body, whatever that looks like, for you. And the great ones know where they're great. They know where they're weak. And they hire the guys to take the place of where they're weak, and they try to stay in their fast line where they're strong. In my opinion, Paul,[PB1]
Paul Barnett 02:45
want to talk about this idea of developing people because you've got a both an undergrad undergraduate degree in education. So clearly, teaching is really something that's important to you. But knowing what you know, now 30 years down the track, maybe even longer since you first started coaching when you were 21. I'm wondering what is it you wish they had taught you back then that you had to learn the hard way?
Jeff Traylor 03:11
More hands on too much book stuff, too much teachers talking? You know, there's this thing we do called student teaching. Where are you You basically your last semester of college, follow a mentor around for a whole semester. And I don't know why you wouldn't do that all eight semesters, I don't know why you wouldn't have you know, when you're in college, one of your classes B, you're going to follow this coach the entire semester.
And that's the best way to still learn is hands on. I love to read and I love to listen, that's why we're doing this podcast right now is I love this kind of interaction. But there's nothing better than getting out there and doing it. If you got a mentor with you. It just helps. So where I really learned to coach was not in college, of course, it was coaching and where I got blessed Paul, I work for two men that were great mentors of mine. Danny long hired me to Jacksonville. And he was wonderful to me and a man by the name of Matt Turner, who still coaches me to this day. And there was another man that's that I've named Wayne Coleman. Those three people just really looked out for me, they saw what I can become and they poured into me and and got everything out of me. I always wondered Paul, what would have happened to me if I never would have found those three people. So if I could go back and I can teach people how to teach them to coach. I would say in terms, mentors, whatever you want to call it, student teaching as much as you can get them out of the classroom, get them on the field, get them on the court, get them on the golf range, whatever they I want to coach them out there, and let them find somebody that can I can learn from.[PB2]
Paul Barnett 05:06
I want to pick up on this theme of learning because in your career, of course, you, you go back to your high school, where you become the head coach, and you go on this amazing run, and eventually, the stadium is named after you. But that's not what I want to ask you about. I've got this great quote from you, actually, from your time it Gilma. And you say, I find myself being the play caller, I was done. I became a head coach and got involved in defense got involved in special teams, I got less involved in my offense. And that was really at a leadership decision I made. It's a great little learning. And I'd like to dig into a bit of recording, I'm really keen to know was there an event or a person that helped you enact or cause this change?
Jeff Traylor 05:52
You know, it was just common evolution of myself and my program, honestly. I had a basketball background, nobody's coming to the games to be on there, we were not any good. And I even as a basketball coach, my teams that didn't win, we scored points. So we always had people come to the game to score points, people would rather see you lose 9777, they would 3717. And basketball, obviously. So I took the same philosophy in football. When I got to Gilmer, we were gonna score points, and we did a lot. And we won a lot of games, too. But we gave up a lot of points to, and we wanted to get on special teams.
And I've found that every job I've fired myself from, and I delegated that job to somebody, and gave them a clear job description, and then supported them, and got out of their way. My team's got better. So I tried to fire myself from as many jobs as I possibly could. And I poured into my coaches, my coordinators, and my players. And those meetings are more important now, obviously, because you want your offense to still be what you want. But by not having to call every play, I could pay way more attention to my defensive coordinator, my special teams coordinator, strength development, the soul, the mind, nutrition, there's just so many more aspects to student athlete than just somebody calling the plays. And I'm not putting down the guys that do it. I mean, I was there's a lot of great head coaches to still call plays. It's just not the way I do it anymore. I'm involved in all of it, Paul. And there's certain times in there, I'll tell him what I want. But as a general rule, I'm letting my three coordinators make those calls.[PB3]
Paul Barnett 07:45
One thing that fascinates me about American football is the size of the teams are just so big. And that's without all the other stakeholders. I imagine you have to you have to interact with the sponsors, the school leadership council, how do you go about renewing your own energy as a leader to make sure that you're on task every day?
Jeff Traylor 08:03
Yeah, I'm actually reading a book right now called the ruthless elimination of hurry. And it's gotten me pretty convicted. That I don't know if I'll be able to keep this pace up. If I don't watch out. And you know, I'm a big journaler big quiet time guy. I've tried to read, not try, I read every day. I'm gonna do my quiet time, early in the morning, and before I go to bed, I'm gonna try to hit it again. And then if I can, during my workout, I'm gonna try to listen to some some type of spiritual podcast or maybe a pastor, maybe a book, just to try to get my mind in a good space, Paul, because I have a wife of 31 years, I've got three children. Okay, now we're married and both graduated Stephen F. Austin State University. I've got a son Jordan is 29 coaches for the New Orleans Saints. I've got a 26 year old son Jake, that lives in Manhattan and works for NBC. And I've got a daughter named Jason is 23. And she lives in Manhattan, and she works for NBC. So, you know, I want to be good to them. And that's just this job takes a lot of my time. So I've got to just push away and remind myself many, many nights that I'm not God. And I've got to trust people to do their jobs and trust my kids do their jobs, but it's very hard. Because you want to do your best and you feel like if you're not working 24/7 365 Somebody's getting ahead of you. But if you're not at your very best, then what what good is it? So I'm really trying to stay fresh and take care of my coaches and players and hopefully be a good mother, a good husband to my wife and a good father and my children.[PB4]
Paul Barnett 09:58
Is it another aspect Have your story that caught my eye and you go from being this legendary coach in a small town. But you obviously you must have known everybody or everybody knew you. And then you take assistant roles. I know they're at university level, you go to Texas, you go to the Southern Methodist University, you go to the University of Arkansas, but their assistant problems. And you just mentioned then that you're a journalist. And I'm wondering, what did you learn about yourself when you went from being the top of the pyramid, the head coach to having to take a secondary role? Yeah, that's
Jeff Traylor 10:33
a great super question. That's what I struggled with the most. I am lead journals. I literally every time, my journal, I journal once a week, and I summarize the week. And so each week I do that always go back and look exactly where I was the year before the year for that year before that year, I go five years, every time because it's so eerie, how you're counting the same pattern of the season, and your thoughts and maybe even your emotions. That's been comforting to me to know, you know what I've been through this, I've done this before.
But the part that I struggle with the most Paul's when you're when you're an assistant, you only make recommendations, you don't make decisions. And when you're a head coach, all you do is make decisions. And I've been a head coach for 15 seasons. So for 15 seasons, I've made all the decisions. And for the next five years as an assistant, I had to go backwards again, and just make suggestions. And nothing against Charlie or Chad, they made a lot of great decisions. But, you know, I was used to being the one that made the decision. I wasn't used to having to ask somebody if I can do something. And that was the hardest part for me, but all[PB5]
Paul Barnett 11:44
How did you deal with it?
Jeff Traylor 11:47
I hope they tell ya was good. I don't know, I'd have to ask Chad and Charlie. I'm sure they sense my frustration at times. I'm pretty opinionated, strong willed. But I also know that the heartbeat of an assistant, you know, you should be a servant, and take care of your head coach and make him look as good as possible. And I would say that
Paul Barnett 12:09
Well, you go on from there. Clearly, you have a successful period, because you end up at UTSA as the head coach. And in that first season you go seven, five, you had a winning season and the program was in turnaround when you got there. It's in your second year when the magic really started to happen. And you have the best start in the program's history you in your first 11 games. Coach trailer, I'm keen to understand what were the first things you did. When you look back in your journal? What were the big rocks you put in place that drove that result,
Jeff Traylor 12:42
there was the first meeting 68 players showed up. I was very honest with them. You know, they didn't pick me. I chose them. So it was my job to win them over. I know the guys do it differently. There are a lot of head coaches come in and blow the whole thing up. I just didn't think that was right for a student athlete. So I told them to set up a meeting with my assistant, and an individual meeting and they had a homework assignment to bring me three things they loved about the program. And three things they've only changed about the program. And obviously I've brought them all in and they all showed up all 68 level. And I took notes and the things I loved. I tried my best to keep the same for those guys. And the things they wanted change. We went to work and I think immediately they bought in and knew I was a guy that's gonna listen and cared for him. And you know, we install our to win, oh, try and lift up his culture, our pillars, our brand. And our kids are really bought into that. It's a player's game on I've got really good players that believe in me and they're the ones that get it done.[PB6]
Paul Barnett 14:00
You say it's a player's game, but I can see that stadium in the virtual background behind you and you feel that stadium and I know that you went down to the university we're handing out a red pizzas and cookies to try and get people in it. So I get that it's a player's game, but I think it a place like UTSA it's also the community's game.
Jeff Traylor 14:20
Yeah, we've really been intentional about that. Paul, we want to not only football team UTSA won't be the football team San Antonio. We've only got you know our basketball team here the Spurs we just got wind B so we're all fired up about that. But there's no you know there's there's football in the spring sometimes with EX NFL but there's really not like a football team here other than us. Because you are W obviously in Trinity to other colleges that are in our town that we want to be the football team of San Antonio. And we worked hard at that. If it's passing out tacos or doughnuts or cookies or pizza, whatever it takes for me to get on the campus. and just try to invite people to the game. And we've really been successful at getting that Alamodome rock and it's there's no other place like in the country. I mean, it's people accuse us of piping in noise and it's just garbage. I work for a woman and out to compost. There's no part at least to compost that would do something like that. So it's all natural. We just have it's almost soccer like I heard you say pitch while ago. It's It's like our community loves our football team, almost like a European team would be loved. It's just crazy. The love to have our players.
Paul Barnett 15:44
You mentioned this to just a minute ago, the the core pillars of your philosophy. I've got them here. There's integrity, passion, mental and physical toughness, selflessness, and a perfect effort. How does your players or rather, how do you play as experience these pillars in any given week?
Jeff Traylor 16:04
Well, I'll be back Tuesday. And our first team meeting our first culture pillars integrity. So I will walk in the meeting nerd Bible stood up with their notes out. I will say the word integrity and they'll scream back to me all at once, when the day that's really our main culture pillars to win the day, this would be the best we can be every day. So that I'm going to do a 10 to 15 minute presentation on what integrity means to me. We'll break up that team meeting, our special teams coordinator will speak on integrity. We'll break up into offense and defense, the offense defensive coordinator will speak on integrity. Then we'll break into a player's position meetings, and there'll be a player from each group speak on integrity. And then at the end of practice, another player will speak on integrity. We do that every day the whole week. So then the next week, we go to passion. So that's the second culture pillar. So I'll walk in the team room, I'll say passion, they'll scream back when the day. And I'll teach on passion for 10 or 15 minutes, and then not to bore you. But we'll follow that exact same plan on passion. We work our way through every culture pillar. And we just try to and walk today what else we do a good job of Paul's holding those kids accountable. We vote our single digit guys are the guys that best represent our culture pillars, and the guys that were the two that one and zero are the ones that had the most votes. And so we do do a really good job of holding them accountable. Well, what I would say Paul is every coach in the country has words on a wall. We challenge our kids to not have words on a wall that words in our hearts. And we really want our heart to be shown, you know, through our words, instead of just having ever coaches got culture builders, Paul, it's not like I've been in this, everybody's got him.[PB7]
Paul Barnett 17:57
You know, if I've only interviewed three American football coaches, but one of them was the great bill Schneider. And he did exactly the same thing. And I've interviewed 150 coaches from around the world. And it's only you and Bill that I've ever heard that has done that. It's it's, it's fascinating, it's different. But I can see how it really challenges people to think that these values
Jeff Traylor 18:19
for Bill had a huge impact on my life from a distance I had a lot of players play for Bob Stoops. And, you know, Bob has a tremendous connection to all those guys. And that staff and I would always go to Oklahoma, to watch Bob and his because I had great players. And so he took care of us. And I would always hear those guys speak those coordinators. You know, and there was always some connection to Bill Snyder or somebody having come to speak and I was a huge, you know, those two guys, I really watched Coach Stoops the way he did in Oklahoma and the way Bill Snyder did a case study. I felt they were as good with their culture as anybody. And taking a lot of things from both those men I say all the time. I've never had an original idea in my life. I think I've stolen every good idea I've ever had Paul.
Paul Barnett 19:14
You're not alone there. Don't worry about that. Jeff, the fifth pillar is perfect effort. And it I really liked this one because I've got also a quote from you that I want to match with it. You say I've never coached a perfect game. I've never had a kid play a perfect game. But we can always give perfect effort. I wanted to ask you why is this focus on perfect effort over perfection? Important to You?
Jeff Traylor 19:42
Yeah, I think it was the way I was raised. I was raised. My mom and dad were very Southern Baptist. It's pretty judgmental. You know, I can remember growing up thinking, you know, I looked at a woman wrong or I said a cuss word I was gonna burn in hell, you know, and I'll just remember the pressure of it. that feeling every day. And the now I got around some wonderful man taught me about God's grace. And I just said, you know, I wonder if I could coach that way with a, you know, that being more of my mindset. And then I was a basketball coach for 10 years and started John Wooden like crazy. And John Wooden was a great teacher, by the way. And he never talked about winning lose. It was always about trusting the process and doing your very best. And he won 10 National Championships. So I thought, you know, he never talked about winning and losing he, he was a teacher, and I remembered his books. And he would say, you know that anybody that's on the sideline, going all crazy during the game, it makes him wonder what they do all week during practice. And that really struck me like, why am I coaching so crazy during the game? Why am I not more relaxed during the game, because I obviously haven't coached very well during the week. So it was just probably the way I was raised getting around some men that saw the game similar to me. And I dove into it more than even my mentors did and still have. I get, you know, I don't want to say chastise, but challenge maybe by media, even some my own coaches like, coach, don't you think we should know? My kids know the objective? The objective is to win the game. We don't have to remain? No, I don't want to be on the free throw line, Paul. thinking, oh my gosh, if I make this one in one, we're gonna win the championship. I want to be at the free though. I'm thinking, You know what my coach told me to knees, feet shot, follow through whatever your technique is you teach. I want them to shoot the best shot they can. And if they do, it's a win. Whether it goes in or not. We did our best. And something I believe strongly in. I think it's alleviate a lot of pressure from my players to the years I don't think they choke ever. When we've got game winning field goals always says the same thing. Just kick the snot out of it. Just make sure you when I hear it. I want to hear a frickin thump. And you'd be shocked at how many those films have gone hand.[PB8]
Paul Barnett 22:08
Well, you've got an Australian punter, haven't you? And I'm sure if you talk like that to him, he will love that.
Jeff Traylor 22:13
Lucas does love that. And he's really good at it. That guy is he's made me look really smart, a ton and really big fan and Lucas Dean also had my home Dickinson, University of Texas and Mac parts for the Seattle Seahawks. And they're both just fantastic, fantastic young blokes, as I was told they're called.
Paul Barnett 22:32
Yeah, that's very true. I wanted to ask you coach trailer about the Leadership Council, you have within the playing group, I just really love to know how it's constructed. And then how it works.
Jeff Traylor 22:47
We know it's weird how I came across it a little bit. I mean, that's still common. I'm not saying I invented it. But when I fired myself from all of those positions, to just be the head coach, I didn't have any more kids, I was hanging around anymore. And I didn't like that. I love that relationship. And I thought I heard a man named Randy out in Highland Park, talking about how they did it. I said, I'm going to do that. And so I had a representative voted on from each room. So we'll get one quarterback, one tight end, one wide receiver 101 tight, and I'm not gonna bore you all the way through the all the way to their group. And so what we had about 10 or 11, and we'd meet every Sunday night, and we just review the last week, and what they thought about the upcoming week and maybe what color uniform they wanted to wear and maybe the food they wanted to eat that week. What they thought about practice, were they too long or too short? Where are we What are y'all thinking? And I was trying to teach them I'm a history teacher as well. Kind of how, you know a democracy works, you know that you vote for a representative, the representatives they meet, they vote, they make a decision. And law comes into play. It's pretty much I know it's a little more complicated than that. But it's a great teaching to kids that was important to go vote. This is your representative. This is their you need to communicate your representatives, I can speak for you. It's just a good way to teach you know about life again. It's a great way for me to hang around my own kids, I got come home group. And I get to hear from the team because they're empowered, and they know it works. from the bottom up around here[PB9]
Paul Barnett 24:29
is such an interesting theme in your story and it's around selecting the people you want to have around you. You've mentioned it already multiple times in this interview, you won the big 12 recruiter the twice when you got to UTSA you were very clear that you wanted to choose people from the local area. You've also been very considered in the staff that you've chosen to help implement your vision both at Gilmer and now UTSA. I know that there's no algorithm for selecting people I know it's difficult. But if someone wanted some top tips on picking people surrounding themselves with people who are good to work with, both in their communities and in their sports teams, what would you tell them?
Jeff Traylor 25:15
You know, don't don't worry about winning the press conference. I mean, you don't hire who everybody tells you you should hire. You're the only one that knows the job. You're the only one that knows what you want. Why are you listening to the local media? Why are you listening to the school board while you're listening to the superintendent? Why, why? You know, you know what you want. And it always blows my mind, these hires that look so great. I've got great people around me, they've had IQ, and they're morally good people. I'm gonna find a way to get them in my building. And I say it all the time, but like minded people surround themselves with like minded people. And I want people that think the way I do. And so we move up from within. Very, very few of our hires have been outside our building. They're all volunteers, GA's endless. We've all moved them up here, I did the same thing that Gilmer, I'm gonna do the same thing here, as long as you let me coach here. And I'm just starting to win in the press conference, Paul, I'm going to go with my gut. And they love people. They love ball. And they're smart. I'm gonna find a way to get them on my staff.[PB10]
Paul Barnett 26:32
And what about if they think a little bit differently from you, if they can,
Jeff Traylor 26:35
I love them. I've, I've hired a lot of weirdos be honest with you. I've got some guys that don't fit the art. They're just different. They're a little goofy. But I like people that are authentically real feel good in their own skin. Don't try to win the press conference. They try to be true to who they are. And I'm gambling a lot of those guys, man, they've come through big for me before and I tell them to I look, I might be the only person that would bet on you. But I'm betting on you. And they've been fantastic. And I know I'm a little goofy, I get it. But thank god I've had no Dr. Larry Bennett believed in me in 2000, and Gilmer and then Allbritton followed him and then President Taylor, I me here, I'm very grateful that someone believed in someone that probably saw the world a little differently than most people do. End Game Margo, yourself a chance.
Paul Barnett 27:27
You talked about John Wooden earlier, and I know that he has a terrific definition of success as a coach. But how do you define success as a coach,
Jeff Traylor 27:37
that's not straight from John, it's just a peace of mind, knowing you did your very best. I mean, that's straight from John Wooden. You know, that's, I don't, I haven't had many losses in my career. But the ones that really bother me are the ones where I was not true to me. And I might have reacted emotionally or didn't stick to the game plan. didn't trust the process. Those are the ones that bothered me. When you when you stay true. And you just do your very best. I've lost games where I'm just as proud as when we went on. And when I do it the right way, and one of our staff just the right way and our players do and that that's success to me.[PB11]
Paul Barnett 28:22
Well, you've coached all the way from the bottom to the top, you talked about coaching Little League kids, before you've coached basketball, you've worked your way up through high school and through university to where you are today. And when these when younger coaches come to you now for advice. I know that some of the people you've actually coached and now coaching themselves, when they come to you, when they ask you for advice when they're starting out. What do you tell them?
Jeff Traylor 28:48
As corny as it sounds, is against it as I was at a young age, you gotta have a philosophy, I just thought that was something you did to get a job, I didn't know you really had to have a philosophy. But you better know who you are and what you're about. Because you're gonna think you're gonna get in this thing and call all these great plays, and it's just, they're gonna work. And it's, it's the least important thing of all of it. So you better know who you are. And don't try to be Jeff trailer because the Lord only made one job trailer, you got to be the very best version of you that you can be. And God gives us all kinds of hands. I mean, when I was trying to find my passion, what that was, I mean, and what my purpose was, I mean, it's natural. I mean, I tell my own three children. If you could do this job the rest of your life and you didn't care what you made, and they didn't even pay you. Would you still do it? And if you would then chase that job too. You just can't chase anymore. And I was blessed that I've never worked a day in my life. This has been 30 Three years now, the players are by far the favorite part of my day. It's always the adults I don't like dealing with. I love dealing with the children there. For 33 years, they've been the reason I come to work. And I've made as little as $19,000 at Big Sandy, Texas. And as much as I'm making dinner at UTS today, and I still love the kids in St. Paul.[PB12]
The importance of formulating your own coaching philosophy, so that you become the best version of what you are capable of.
Paul Barnett 30:23
Now, it's terrific. And so I think, one final question, if I could go to trailer and I'm going to preface it with another quote from you, and you say, a man gives to His church, a man gives to his family, a man gives to his city a man gives to his school. A boy takes not giving anything back. It's a great yeah,
Jeff Traylor 30:43
it's just, it's a poem I was given back in the 90s by a man by the name addict, Sheffield. Again, a mentor of mine. And basically the point is, you know, my record as a football coach, as you know, it's so many wins and so many losses, and it's pretty impressive. That's not my real record. My real record is going to be when I'm dead and gone. And how many those guys decide to come to my funeral? Like southern head coach now? 18 years, so about 30 singers ever class. So I've had the opportunity to influence about 550 boys. And so what the man does, man is if they were sitting at my funeral, are they? Are they not given to their church? Are they given to their families? Are they given to their country? Are they still take him when you're a little boy, I mean, my dad didn't expect me to be providing food at the table or paying for anything for our government or paying for church helping out anyway. You know, I was a boy. I mean, it was my dad's job, take care of me. But man, when you calm, someone's responsible for people, and you're the one taking care of them, now then then you're a man. And so my real record is gonna be out of those 550 How many man out how many boys and I hope all 550 of them are doing their best take care of their people. They're doing that and somewhere along the way, Paul, I hope I helped in that matter. It's not my responsibility to understand is their parents responsibility, but it is my responsibility to help. It takes a village and I want to be someone that along the way help that young boy become a man.[PB13]
Paul Barnett 32:28
I think of a better place to finish coach trailer. It's been fantastic to spend this time with you today. I'm really thrilled we got the chance to connect. I'm looking forward to sharing your thoughts and ideas with a much broader audience and I wish you all the best for what I hope will be another championship season.
Jeff Traylor 32:46
Paul keeps sending me those great Australian punters over here and I'll keep making a lot of football games. I appreciate you Paul and God bless the birds up