UTSA football named Jeff Traylor the third coach in the program's short history on Monday afternoon.

Traylor is a household name in Texas high school football because of his success at Gilmer, winning three state championships in a storied career. However, his collegiate stops have been less successful. He was on staffs at Texas and Arkansas that were both fired for poor performance. 

UTSA is a program with massive potential because of its natural recruiting advantages and dedicated fan base. The program expects to become a consistent bowl and Conference USA contender down the road. We identified five pressing questions that will ultimately define Traylor's hire. 

What does a Traylor-coached team look like? 

Traylor worked as a running backs coach, tight ends coach and associate head coach during his time at the college level. Other than doing a decent job coaching up Rakeem Boyd at Arkansas, there isn’t much on-field to go on. 

During his time in high school, Traylor coached a dynamic spread offense. His final group in 2014 won a state title after scoring the second-most points in Texas high school football history, featuring athletes like Kris Boyd, Blake Lynch and McLane Carter. Before becoming a head coach, he served as a passing game coordinator, defensive backs coach, receivers coach and special teams coordinator, so he has a little background in everything. 

UTSA’s roster has some depth and talent, but with little to no identity. It will be interesting to hear Traylor’s vision for his program when he is officially announced. 

How is Traylor different than Wilson? 

Traylor and Wilson have a shocking amount in common. Both served as running backs, recruiting coordinators and associate head coaches at SEC schools. Both had success as high school coaches. Both earned recruiter of the year nods early in their careers. 

What this hire says is that the school has decided Wilson’s profile wasn’t the issue, just his results. Traylor is a less experienced collegiate coach and worked for less successful programs. That said, he also has much more presence in Texas. The little details of this hire are critical because otherwise, it’s more of the same. 

Does UTSA buying low matter? 

At one point, Traylor would have been an electrifying hire for UTSA. He was a top contender the year Wilson was hired because of his relationships in Texas. 

However, Traylor’s stock has unquestionably dropped since then. He served under Charlie Strong, and the Longhorns took a nosedive. Later, he coached with Chad Morris as Arkansas fell apart. Just last week, Traylor was interviewing for FCS jobs. With the level of program UTSA could be with some investment, outbidding Lamar isn’t especially impressive. 

Traylor’s relationships in Texas and pedigree haven’t necessarily changed, despite the disasters he’s been around at the college level. Still, we’ll learn quickly whether Traylor still has the same level of clout in high school circles. 

What assistants can he hire? 

Any new head coach has to make quality hires at the coordinator positions, but it’s even more critical in this case. Traylor has never served as a collegiate coordinator. He doesn’t bring any particular identity to the table after coaching under Charlie Strong and Chad Morris. 

Since he hasn’t been a coordinator, bringing at least one or two guys with proven college credentials is a must. Traylor coached a productive spread offense at the high school level but needs someone who can help organize it. While his recruiting chops will help, on-field coaching will determine if this hire succeeds or fails.

Salary pool is a big unanswered question.

Can Traylor galvanize the fan base? 

UTSA has seen great success in building a fan base in the program’s young existence. However, the numbers slipped dramatically over Wilson’s final two seasons. Lost ticket revenue undoubtedly played a part in Wilson’s dismissal. 

Traylor has been the face of a program before at Gilmer. He was so good that Gilmer eventually named its 7,000-seat stadium after him. Rebuilding relationships with the community will be critical. There’s not much worse than playing in a stadium that’s only 20 percent full.

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