FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas has hired Jeff Traylor as an assistant football coach, according to documents obtained Tuesday through an open records request by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Traylor, who spent the past season at SMU, signed an offer letter with the Razorbacks last Tuesday that allowed him to begin recruiting on Arkansas' behalf. Traylor has not been given an official position on Chad Morris' coaching staff, but it is believed he will work with Arkansas' running backs, a similar position as he held on the SMU staff.
Traylor also was an associate head coach at SMU and was promoted to interim head coach when Arkansas hired Morris away from SMU on Dec. 6. SMU has since hired Sonny Dykes as head coach. Dykes will coach the Mustangs' bowl game against Louisiana Tech on Wednesday.
Traylor's offer letter is similar to other agreements Arkansas has in place with former SMU staffers Joe Craddock, Justin Stepp, Dustin Fry and Mark Smith. All of the men are under contract through Dec. 31 with the understanding longer term contracts will be signed at a later date.
"This letter sets forth the material terms of the University's offer to you to be effective on your start date...and until the execution of your formal employee agreement with the University, which shall more fully set forth the terms and conditions of your employment beyond this period," the letters read, in part.
Each new hire has a listed annual salary of $100,000, but that figure will change when each signs their longer term contracts, said a source inside the football program.
Prior to coaching at SMU, Traylor was a tight ends and special teams coach at Texas for two seasons. From 2000-14 he was head coach at Gilmer High School in east Texas, where he had a 175-26 record with three state championships and two state runner-up finishes.