SAN ANTONIO — UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor on Friday announced that he has named Justin Burke as the program's special teams coordinator and tight ends coach.
Burke, who was the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach at USF in 2017-19, moves into his new position after spending the last two seasons as an offensive analyst for the Roadrunners. Additionally, Kurt Traylor will move into a new assistant offensive line coach role after overseeing the tight ends unit the past two seasons.
"I'm fired up to announce Justin Burke as our special teams coordinator and tight ends coach," Traylor said. "Justin has been a valuable member of our staff since we got here and has years of experience working with special teams and tight ends. No one deserves this opportunity to be moved up on our staff more than Justin, as this provides another seamless transition for our players and staff."
Burke, a veteran of college football staffs for more than a decade, spent the last two seasons as an analyst for the UTSA offensive staff. During his time in San Antonio, the Roadrunners have posted a 19-7 record, won a conference championship and made a pair of bowl appearances. The offensive side of the ball earned a total of 16 All-Conference USA accolades during his first two years on the staff.
In his first year on the staff, UTSA registered a 7-5 overall record, finished second in C-USA's West Division with a 5-2 mark and earned a spot in the First Responder Bowl.
Burke was promoted to senior analyst for the offense prior to his second season at UTSA. The Roadrunners finished with a 12-2 record to set school records for most wins and best winning percentage in a season, were nationally ranked (as high as No. 15) for the first time in school history and captured their first league title by winning the C-USA Championship with a 49-41 victory over WKU. UTSA capped the season with its second straight and third overall bowl appearance against San Diego State in the Tropical Smoothie Café Frisco Bowl.
Prior to his arrival in San Antonio, Burke was the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach at USF for three seasons, spending two years on the same staff as UTSA co-offensive coordinator Matt Mattox. During his tenure, the Bulls won 21 games and made a pair of bowl appearances.
In his first season at USF, the Bulls capped a 10-2 campaign with a 38-34 victory against Texas Tech in the 2017 Birmingham Bowl. Burke led a special teams unit that saw kicker Emilio Nadelman earn first team all-conference honors and set the program's single-season scoring record with 115 points. Nadelman made a school-record 21 field goals and established a USF single-game mark by scoring 19 points against Temple, including going 5 for 5 on field goals. He led the American Athletic Conference and ranked 19th nationally by making a USF single-season record 84.0 percent of his field goals. Punter Jonathan Hernandez ranked second in the league with a 43.4 yards-per-punt average.
In his second season with the Bulls, Burke helped lead tight end Mitch Wilcox to first team all-conference honors and USF season records for a tight end of 43 receptions for 540 yards, including a single-game record eight catches for 109 yards at Illinois.
In 2019, Wilcox again earned all-league accolades and went on to play in the East-West Shrine Bowl before landing in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Prior to his tenure at USF, Burke served as a quality control special assistant working with tight ends at Texas during the 2016 season. He also worked as an offensive special assistant (2014-15) at Texas. During his time at Texas, he was a part of the same staffs as Traylor, Mattox and UTSA co-offensive coordinator Will Stein.
Burke was an offensive quality control assistant (2013) and offensive graduate assistant (2011-2012) at his alma mater, Louisville. During his time on the staff, the Cardinals won a pair of Big East Conference titles (2011, 2012) and had the nation's fourth-best winning percentage (23-3; 88.5%) over the 2012 and 2013 seasons. He worked with quarterbacks, including Will Stein, as well as wide receivers and tight ends, and he helped mentor 2012 Big East Offensive Player of the Year Teddy Bridgewater and first team All-AAC wide receiver Devante Parker.
Burke played quarterback at Louisville (2008-10) and North Carolina State (2006-08) before beginning his collegiate coaching career as a recruiting intern under Nick Saban at Alabama in 2011.
As a player, Burke was a two-year letterman and started eight games as a quarterback at Louisville. He was a three-time All-Big East Academic Team honoree and a 2006 All-ACC Academic Team honoree. He was part of the North Carolina State honors program and earned Dean's List recognition several times at North Carolina State and Louisville.
Burke earned his bachelor's degree in accounting in 2009 and his master's degree in business administration in 2011, both from Louisville.
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