Texas high school coaches are all the rage these days, but one hire that's flown under the radar thus far is Gilmer High School coach Jeff Traylor leaving his East Texas dynasty for the Texas tight ends and special teams job.
It's an interesting spot to jump into college football for Traylor. A Longhorn tight end hasn't caught more than 16 passes in a season since Jermichael Finley - now out of the league after a six-year NFL career - snared 45 passes way back in 2007. Texas is desperate for production out of the tight end spot, so in that respect Traylor has been given an opportunity to substantially boost Texas' offense from Day 1. But to get there he'll have to cultivate a group of unproven players, many of whom moved to tight end after starting their college careers at another position.
As for special teams? The Longhorns ranked 61st nationally in punt returns, 99th in kickoff returns, 82nd in field goals, 98th in punt coverage, and dead last in kickoff coverage in 2014.
Let's look at the bright side here: Traylor walked into college football with an opportunity to show why he should have been at this level a long time ago.