Change has been a constant at Tyler Lee over the past few weeks. Just hours after the Red Raiders completed spring football, former head coach Clayton George announced he was resigning after just one year. Tyler ISD worked quickly and in less than two weeks, they found their guy about 40 miles away to the northeast.
Former Gilmer offensive line coach Kurt Traylor was officially named the head coach on June 6 and already has one thing in mind when it comes to his new team.
“This senior class has had three different head coaches in the four years they’ve been here. That’s not their fault; I’ve told them that and I want to be here for them,” Traylor said, “These are good kids that need some consistency and that’s what I’ve told them and that’s what they need to see from my family and our coaches. Our program has always been kid-driven and we want to keep it that way.”
Traylor takes over a tradition-rich Tyler Lee program but one that has struggled over the last few seasons, going just 20-52 from 2010 to last season with just two playoff appearances during that stretch. It was that tradition along with prayer and conversations with his wife that helped the East Texas native make “the most important decision we’ve made.”
“Being from East Texas, you always know about the Tyler area and Tyler Lee has traditionally been successful and there’s some great kids here. It was a hard decision especially after living in Gilmer for 17 years, but it’s the one I’ve been looking for and I couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity.”
As for how his team will look on the field, Traylor says that the defense will be something similar to the 3-4 that the Red Raiders ran last year. On offense, he’ll be implementing something similar to the high-flying, high-powered offense from Gilmer to Tyler Lee. The Buckeyes averaged more than 48 points and nearly 527 yards per game in 2016.
That’s good news for players like senior quarterback Chance Amie, who enters 2017 as one of the top quarterbacks in the state and early on, Traylor already likes what he sees from his signal caller.
“He has a great ability to lead by example,” Traylor said of Amie, “The kids migrate towards him and he has the ability to stay calm under pressure. I told him that we need him to be that guy for us and how he can lead us this season. He’s just a great kid and a great person and I couldn’t have asked for a better quarterback moving into this situation than him.”
In his first head coaching job, Traylor will rely on players like Amie to help turn around the fortunes of the Red Raiders in 2017. In a district that features some top contenders in Longview and archrival Tyler John Tyler, it won’t be an easy task. One person who does have confidence in Traylor’s ability is Gilmer head coach Matt Turner, who described Traylor as the right man for the job.
“Out there at Tyler Lee, you have young men who want to be excellent and I think you have a coach that’s going to help them achieve that,” Turner said of his former offensive line coach, “He’s driven that way and those kids want to be the best they can be and I think that he’s going to lead them to that.”
As for Traylor, he’s only been officially on the job since Monday and everything has been a quick turnaround. But, he’s all in to try and turn around a program that is looking for stability and consistency and help build winners off the field.
“If you work hard, wins will come,” Traylor said, “We never say ‘Hey, this is what we’re going to do this year’ in any program I’ve been a part of. I want to build champions and good people in the community here in Tyler, Texas.”
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