Approximately 45 UTSA students concluded a two-day walk-on tryout process by participating in hour and a half of various drills Wednesday afternoon at Farris Stadium.

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“I was really pleased with how the walk-on tryouts went,” head coach Larry Coker said. “We had a very good group of young men who were enthusiastic about the entire process. They’ve worked hard to get to this point and it showed out here today. The ones we select will be a vital part of building this program over the few years.”

The list of 45 was narrowed down from an initial group of about 250 students who showed initial interest at the first information held at the beginning of the fall semester. Those who made it through to this week had to meet several requirements, including the NCAA Clearinghouse.

The coaching staff will select a number of walk-ons from the 45-person pool over the next few weeks.

The University of Texas System Board of Regents unanimously approved UTSA’s Athletics Initiative Business Plan on Dec. 18, 2008, which granted the university permission to add a football program. On March 6, 2009, Larry Coker, who won the 2001 National Championship at Miami, was introduced as the program’s first-ever head coach.

UTSA will play two years (2011-12) as an NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Independent. It then will notify the NCAA in June 2013 of its intent to advance to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in 2015. The Roadrunners will comply with FBS standards during the 2013 and 2014 seasons, then will seek full FBS membership and bowl eligibility in 2015.

UTSA signed its first recruiting class in February and will redshirt all incoming players during the 2010-11 school year. The first practices will be held this fall and the first game will be against Northeastern (Okla.) State on Sept. 3, 2011, at the Alamodome.

By University of Texas-San Antonio Sports Information