College Football Coach Shatters Finger In Rat Trap Meant To Keep Players Focused

Rat poison.

That’s the term that legendary college football coach Nick Saban uses describe a team getting wrapped up in all the outside attention that comes with success.

Since Saban first started using the term, several other coaches across the country have picked up on it.

Unfortunately for University of Texas-San Antonio coach Jeff Traylor, it backfired in a major, major way.

The Roadrunners are 4-3 this season and have one three games in a row heading into an American Athletic Conference showdown with East Carolina.

But Traylor didn’t want his team feeling too confident. So he devised a plan.

UTSA Coach Jeff Traylor Smashes Finger In Rat Trap

UTSA set out rat trap in each player’s locker entering the week, with the message being to not take the bait.

But one of the players gave a trap to Traylor, who then proceeded to get his finger smashed as the trap came crashing down.

“I put my hand there and it looks like my pinky got smashed by a hammer,” Traylor said of the incident on Monday. “It would have killed a lesser man, but I’m OK.”

Traylor may well regret his methodology this time around.

But it’s worked for him in spades in the past.

The praise is well deserved, though; the program has gone 23-5 with back-to-back Conference USA championships. After a 1-3 start in nonconference play, the Roadrunners have found their sea legs to start their tenure as an AAC program.

Traylor boasts a 34-13 record as the head coach at UTSA. The Roadrunners won Conference USA titles in both 2021 and 2022, with a combined 23-5 record in those seasons.

But they’ve found a move to the AAC a bit more difficult. UTSA began the year 1-3, including a home loss to conference foe Army.

They’ve since steadied the ship, however, winning three in a row.

Now Traylor has to hope his unfortunate incident is a bad sign for what’s to come on the field.