Winning two straight Conference USA championships has come at a cost for UTSA. In 2021, the Roadrunners won the conference crown, then lost offensive coordinator Barry Lunney, Jr., to Illinois and defensive coordinator Rod Wright to the Houston Texans.
The Roadrunners repeated in 2022, then lost co-offensive coordinators Will Stein to Oregon and Matt Mattox to Purdue.
A Group of 5 program watching its coaches move up a level has been a part of college football since the game's existence. In 2023, though, success at that level means watching those same programs and their peers attempt to use your roster like a farm team.
Traylor sounded the alarm in December with this tweet.
Dear @NCAAFootball How does @UTSAFTBL report Power 5 Schools who are trying to poach our young talent? How much evidence do we really need to make this not be a part of our game?
— Jeff Traylor (@CoachTraylor) December 20, 2022
Since then, though, Traylor has tried a more direct approach.
Speaking at the Texas High School Coaches Association convention on Monday, UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor explained how he (mostly successfully) kept the vultures at bay: he confronted the other head coach.
"I'm not just going to roll over and let them have my kids," Traylor said. "I'm going to say, 'Hey Sam, my kid came in here and screen-shotted you hitting him up. He's on my roster right now. What are you doing, Sam?'
"And usually Sam's going to say, 'Your kid came and told you?' 'Yeah, I've got the screen shot, Sam, right here.' That squashed seven of the eight. The one, he did what he had to do. I'm still close that one, too, I love the kid. I think he'll hit me back in six months and say, 'You know what? I miss you coach. I might've made a bad decision. I hope not. We'll see."
Great stuff from UTSA Head Coach Jeff Traylor about other college programs trying to recruit players on his current roster. pic.twitter.com/qnUtwcvDjh
— Greg Powers 🏟️ (@GPowersScout) July 17, 2023
The one Traylor lost was wide receiver Zahkari Franklin, who in June took his 94 catches for 1,136 yards and 15 touchdowns to Ole Miss.
Ole Miss adds top WR transfer target Franklin https://t.co/VIn9IunCS9
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) June 7, 2023
Twelve Roadrunners have entered the portal since the December window opened, so Traylor's approach only applies to those who are being recruited into the portal.
And, as goes without saying here, Traylor's approach only works on players who want to remain Roadrunners in the first place. Otherwise, they'd just enter the portal without telling him -- something the other head coach in this scenario is clearly counting on in this scenario.