Name aids Travis Bush in helping UTSA program grow

McALLEN — Travis Bush’s last name is a familiar one in Texas football.

Despite being only 34 years old and just a decade into his coaching career, many of the state’s high school coaches and administrators have a feeling of familiarity toward him. Part of that is because of Bush’s own career, which has taken him from being a wide receiver at Southwest Texas State to a graduate assistant at TCU to co-offensive coordinator at Texas State to being the offensive coordinator for Larry Coker and the Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners, who begin play in the Football Championship Subdivision next fall.

A bigger part of that familiarity, however, comes from Bruce Bush, Travis’ father. Bruce, now coaching at PSJA North, has been all around the state and, naturally, has made connections at numerous programs.

And nobody downplays how important that Bush name is for Travis, who is one of the recruiters trying to sign players who are coached by people who know his father.

“A lot of the coaches that are around the state have either coached with me or played with me or they’ve certainly played against me,” Bruce said. “Just the association with the coaches, and the coach’s name, I think that’s going to be one of his big assets is the recruiting base that he’ll have in the state of Texas. A lot of that is from people that know me and have been around me.”

Travis recognizes that.

“I think 99 percent of the schools I go into or recruit in are coaches that know him, that have worked with him. They remember me when I was a kid,” Travis said. “There’s a connection with those coaches, through him mainly that has really helped me as well as the schools I’ve been in the recruiting process for.”

Coker, who led the Miami Hurricanes to the 2001 National Championship and came within one controversial pass interference call of another the next year,  had in the past recruited Texas. But unlike at Miami  and the other major schools he’s worked at (Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State), the majority of the Roadrunners’ talent will come from Texas, and much of it from South Texas.

Having Travis Bush (and his name) is something he expects will help the program grow.

“I think it will help us. It will for sure get us in the door, get him in the door, get our name in the door,” Coker said. “But then we’ve got to c lose the deal, which he can.”

Brian Sandalow covers high school sports for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436 or via e-mail at bsandalow@themonitor.com.