Former Texas assistant Jeff Traylor among candidates to replace Matt Wells at Texas Tech
The head coach landscape has yet another opening following the firings of Clay Helton at USC and Ed Orgeron at LSU. The Texas Tech Red Raiders announced on Monday that they relieved Matt Wells. Athletic director Kirby Hocutt stated that the next hire would be one that will unify the fanbase.
One of the names that has been passed around is former Texas Longhorns assistant coach Jeff Traylor. Currently, Traylor has his UTSA Roadrunners in the top 25 of the AFCA Coaches Poll with an 8-0 record. During his time as the head coach, Traylor has compiled a record of 15-5 with the Roadrunners in two years.
At a late afternoon news conference, Hocutt called Wells “a very good man” and one “who always operates with integrity and character.”
“Matt Wells did a lot of things right,” Hocutt said. “The performance on the field did not match our expectations.”
Tech (5-3, 2-3 in the Big 12) has finished each of the past five seasons and six of the past seven with losing records. The Red Raiders have not finished above .500 in conference play since 2009, Mike Leach’s last season.
“We’ve got to get this right,” Hocutt said with an emphatic tone. “Bottom line, we have got to get this right for Texas Tech athletics and Texas Tech University.”
Hocutt emphasized that getting a coach with Texas ties will be important for high school connections and recruiting reasons. – Don Williams, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
A head coach candidate with high school connections seems to point straight to Traylor. He spent time as an assistant coach at Big Sandy and Jacksonville in East Texas before becoming the head coach at Gilmer High School. He joined the Longhorns staff in 2015 after 14 years with Gilmer.
Multiple coaching lists all have Traylor among the top names, as well as Sonny Dykes. Dykes is the current head coach at Southern Methodist and the son of Tech coaching legend Spike Dykes.
