Is the next coach at Texas or Texas A&M right down the road? In Texas?

No coach in major college football sits on the hotter throne made of gold like John James Fisher Jr. in College Station.

One hundred and seven miles to the southwest of Northgate is big brother, and coach Steve Sarkisian, whose hot seat is made not of gold but gummies and edibles (it is Austin).

Five minutes after the next loss by the respective football teams at either Texas or Texas A&M, and the “Fire our idiot coach” will flood the Internet.

John James’ tenure in College Station thus far has been more of a nuclear waste than a bust.

John James is due $77 million if the Aggies fire him after this season. It will take a second straight 5-7 record, at least, for A&M’s fat cat boosters to consider pooling their couch-cushion money to make him go away.

Sark’ has coached two years at Texas, but the Longhorns continue to Longhorn. His buyout is far easier to digest than the 1,000 Thanksgiving dinners A&M will have to swallow on Fisher.

The man patiently watching all of this tragicom play out at Texas’ two flagship state schools enjoys a nice life in San Antonio, at another University of Texas school.

Jeff Traylor is in his fourth year as the head coach at UTSA, and he is the next head coach-in-waiting at Texas. At Texas A&M. If Year 4 in San Antonio goes as well as Year 2 and Year 3, he will be the coach-in-waiting at a lot of places.

“When you go to a place that hasn’t had a lot of success and you win you are going to get that question all the time,” Traylor said in a recent interview. “I hope for the next 15 years I get the same questions because that means we’re winning.

“You hope they always think you might leave because if not my administration may not keep helping me.”

He said this last sentence laughing. This is a kidding/not kidding line.

“I’m making a joke out of that, but at the same time this is a crazy business,” he said. “So far, everything at UTSA has been unbelievable.”

Traylor was the successful high school coach from Gilmer who left after 2014 to make it in the college game.

He spent the 2015 and ‘16 seasons on Charlie Strong’s staff at Texas. Traylor then worked for SMU under Chad Morris, and Sonny Dykes, in 2017.

Traylor followed Morris to Arkansas for the next two seasons before becoming the head coach at UTSA.

The Roadrunners are 23-5 in the last two seasons, 30-10 overall; they have been ranked at various times in the various polls. They finished last season ranked 25th, a first for a program that has played FBS football since 2012.

In October of 2021, Traylor signed an extension that will “keep” him in San Antonio through 2031. It pays him $2.8 million annually.

“It’s a family-oriented place, and they’re grateful I’m their head coach,” he said. “They’ve treated me and my wife extremely well. I have a great university and administration that is committed to us being successful. So far, everything they’ve promised me they’re going to do, or it’s close to getting done.

“We have the seventh largest city in the country. There is potential to make this a sleeping giant.”

He sounds sincere, and his annual salary is about half of that of Sarkisian.

There is only so much places like UTSA can do.

It’s the same problem Houston ran into with Art Briles, Kevin Sumlin and Tom Herman. It was the same problem TCU had with Dennis Franchione.

Nearly every single coach can’t resist the urge to leave “their level,” to pursue the bigger stage. The bigger money. The chance to win a national title.

There is that small chance that maybe Traylor is not the standard climbing coach.

There is that small chance Traylor is more like a Gary Patterson, a Sonny Lubick, a LaVell Edwards, a Fisher DeBerry. All of those were successful coaches who remained at one place for the majority of their respective careers rather than pursue job hunting at the “higher levels.”

(Patterson was at TCU from 2000 to 2023; he began there long before TCU joined the Big 12, in 2012).

“There are a couple of things that we need to address to keep you happy,” Traylor said. “It’s an NIL world, and we are competitive in that world. I don’t want to lose my players when people try to take them from me. We have to be competitive there.

“I don’t want to lose my coordinators. I’m on my third offensive coordinator in four years. Don’t get me wrong, I am thrilled for the guys who left, but it’s hard to keep winning when you have turnover like that.”

As a member of the American Athletic Conference, Traylor is in a league he can win, and make the expanded 12-team playoff. If he keeps this up, there is no way he stays.

Unless he’s different.

A coach can have a great career, and life, if he can accept that he just may not play for a national title. That is the only way UTSA can keep their head coach-in-waiting head coach.

Until then ...

“It’s the people, and our fans, are just so passionate,” he said. “I love living here. We have Fiesta. Six Flags. The Spurs. The River Walk. It’s a neat place.”

He means it.

He’s also not dumb.