With offensive coordinator Doug Meacham taking the same position at Texas Christian University, UH didn’t need to look far for a replacement. The University pegged coach Travis Bush to lead its offense, the Athletics Department announced on Friday.
Bush just wrapped up his second regular season at UH. Here are a few facts to know about Bush as he prepares to step into a familiar role for UH during its bowl game.
Bush
1. Bush has experience as an offensive coordinator: Before he arrived at UH, Bush served as offensive coordinator at upstart football program UTSA. The Roadrunners averaged nearly 27 points per game and presented a balanced offense. UTSA averaged 219.7 yards passing and 144.8 yards on the ground. At Texas State, Bush’s offense ranked No. 5 in FCS in total offense (460 ypg) and fourth in scoring offense (38.3 ppg) in 2008.
2. Bush is used to in-season adjustments: After former coordinator Mike Nesbitt resigned following an embarrassing 30-13 loss to Texas State, Bush called plays for a UH offense that finished 15th nationally with an average of 479.6 yards per game and a passing game ranked 11th nationally at 328.4 yards per game.
3. Bush and head coach Tony Levine have history: Both have history at Texas State. While Levine coached receivers and tight ends at Texas State, Bush was a player. Bush was on Levine’s shortlist of candidates he wanted on his staff when he was hired for UH’s top job.
4. Bush is highly thought of within Levine’s coaching staff: Levine said Bush is a creative thinker. “I am extremely confident in his play-calling abilities and his commitment to the University of Houston,” Levine said. “His work last season, taking over after the season had started and improving our offense drastically, speaks for itself. He has an outside-the-box mentality and a creative football mind, and having been a part of this system for the past two seasons, I’m excited about the possibilities moving forward.”
5. Coaching is in his blood: Bush’s father, Bruce, is a Texas high school football coaching legend. Bruce won 284 games in 35 seasons at several high school programs in Texas. Bruce retired in 2012.
UH just reloads at OC and moves on. I actually expect the offense to crank it up a couple of notches.
I keep reading comments from many alums that they’re excited about Bush and that our offense should be so much better next year. I keep remembering last year and thought that he was thrown in over his head for some reason, but, now, maybe it was the defense that was so bad? I had forgotten how much performance was attained by the offense last year.
Bush should be fired after the UTSA debacle and so should Levine.