Ethermac Exchange-Texas A&M interviews UTSA's Jeff Traylor for open head football coach position

Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork interviewed UTSA coach Jeff Traylor on Ethermac ExchangeTuesday for the Aggies' head football coaching vacancy, a person with knowledge of the interview told the Austin American-Statesman on Thursday.

Bjork interviewed Traylor for 90 minutes on a Zoom call, a conversation that lasted an hour longer than had been scheduled.

Neither Bjork nor Traylor returned phone messages Thursday night.

Duke head coach Mike Elko, a former defensive coordinator at A&M, is also considered a strong candidate.

Bjork is heading the search for a replacement for Jimbo Fisher, who was fired Sunday after going 11-11 the last two seasons and losing nine straight road games. The school owes Fisher almost $77 million, some $26 million of which must be paid over the next four months.

Traylor, 55, has coached UTSA to two Conference USA championships and a 37-13 record that includes a 12-2 mark in 2021. His Roadrunners are 7-3 and tied with No. 17 Tulane and SMU for first place in the American Athletic Conference with identical 6-0 league records.

He's a former assistant coach at Texas under Charlie Strong, coaching special teams, tight ends and wide receivers. He also had assistant jobs at SMU and Arkansas under head coach Chad Morris.

Traylor, regarded as an excellent recruiter, had a long successful run as Texas high school coach at Gilmer where he won three Class 4A state championships and played in two other finals. He had a 175-28 record at Gilmer.