Reports: Texas will hire Gilmer HC Jeff Traylor as TE coach

The Texas Longhorns will have a highly successful high school football coach on staff after all once Gilmer's Jeff Traylor accepts the job as tight ends coach.

Orangebloods and the Austin American-Statesman are reporting on Tuesday evening that Traylor will take the job, but the latter report says that deal isn't done quite yet.

After leading the East Texas power for 15 years, Traylor would replace another former Texas high school coach in Bruce Chambers, who was let go after serving under former head coach Mack Brown and new head coach Charlie Strong at Texas for 17 years.

Traylor met with Strong on Monday and then formally interviewed for the job on Tuesday after Cedar Hill head coach Joey McGuire turned down the position over the weekend.

One East Texas observer said it would be a "home-run hire" for Texas because Traylor can both coach at a high level and relate to his players, attributes that made McGuire so appealing when reports of his job offer emerged.

Traylor's resume certainly backs up the former part of that argument, as he compiled a 175-26 record at Glimer that included state championships in 2004, 2009, and 2014, along with title game appearances in 2007 and 2012. His first team went 6-4 and missed the playoffs, but every subsequent squad has won eight games and appeared in the postseason.

Last season, Texas cornerback signee Kris Boyd and his younger brother, 2016 linebacker Demarco Boyd, helped lead the state-title winning group for Gilmer.

But Boyd was the only East Texas signee for the Horns in the 2015 class compared to five from the region for Texas A&M, illustrating just how much help Texas needs in that area to solidify it as a pipeline to Austin as the Aggies are increasingly locking down area talent.

If he formally accepts the job, Traylor should certainly help in that regard because of his reputation and his deep ties to the region as a Gilmer alum.