Travis Bush takes UH job

Former UTSA offensive coordinator Travis Bush has accepted the position of running backs coach at the University of Houston, replacing former RB coach Claude Mathis.

“I’m extremely excited to be joining the Cougar family,” Bush said. “It’s been great to see the progress the football program has made over the past few years and it’s evident that the administration and the university have made a commitment to excellence with regards to athletics and academics. I had the opportunity to play for Coach Levine, and he has always been someone I’ve admired. He has put together an amazing staff, and I’m honored to be working along side them.”

This news caught us so off guard that I can’t even begin to go through all the possible side effects of this move, not the least of which will be the search for a new offensive coordinator in time for spring practice, which is set to begin in March.

It will also be interesting to see how this move will impact the impending quarterback battle between Eric Soza, Tucker Carter and Ryan Polite (heck, we could even throw Zach Conque into the mix if the new OC decides not to redshirt him). With Soza’s ties to Texas State and Coach Bush, the offensive was really built around him last year, and now he’ll presumably be back at level pegging with the rest of the QB competition.

As far as the coaching search goes, the only reasonable option to promote from within would be offensive line coach Jim Marshall, who came to UTSA after serving as OL coach and offensive coordinator at Incarnate Word, having spent time as the offensive coordinator at UTEP and La Tech, among others, in the mid-80’s. However, it seems more likely that UTSA will look to bring in someone from the outside who has had more experience coaching at the D1 level.