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National media discuss what is at stake for A&M's head coach this season
Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd was brutally honest on the current situation with the Texas A&M football program during his talk show, ‘The Herd,’ back in May.
“Texas A&M to me is the most underachieving program in the country and has been for years,” Cowherd said on-air. “Texas A&M should put a lot more guys in the NFL and they don’t... I thought they’d go to the SEC and they went to the SEC and are no better than Arkansas, figure that one out. The money? Lots of it. The revenue? Tons of it. Facilities? Outstanding. State? Perfect. Results? Not good.”
Cowherd’s hot take on the atmosphere in Aggieland was no different than his other bold opinions, but his exposure to the Aggies’ mediocrity had valid facts for support.
Later in May at the 2017 SEC Spring Meetings, Texas A&M athletic director Scott Woodward laid out what A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin had to do this season to remain the man in charge in College Station during an appearance on “The Paul Finebaum Show.”
The message was clear: win or leave.
“Coach knows he has to win and he has to win this year and we have to do better than we’ve done in the past,” Woodward said.
Although the comments came across as borderline questionable, Sumlin and Woodward regularly talk. Sumlin said he is his own biggest critic. In addition, there are reminders all around Sumlin, the biggest being the ‘No Excuses’ sign residing inside the Bright Football Complex.
“Nobody puts more pressure on me than I put on myself and nobody wants to win more than I want to,” Sumlin said.
In the last three years, Sumlin has compiled almost identical seasons with the same 8-5 result. Although a 44-21 overall record isn’t terrible, in a conference as competitive as the SEC it just isn’t enough. Especially when you play in the same division as Nick Saban who in the same five-year time frame has posted a 64-7 record with multiple national titles.
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Manziel Era
Sumlin’s first two years at the helm of the A&M program came quick and with a good amount of success. In his first season, Sumlin guided the Aggies to an 11-2 finish with a Cotton Bowl victory and a Heisman winner in Johnny Manziel. His only season with double digit victories for A&M and perhaps his best season ever.
Kirk Bohls, lead sports columnist at the Austin-American Statesman, said the magic from the Manziel years is no longer felt and the heat is on Sumlin to produce wins this upcoming season
“It’s hardly a secret that Sumlin is under big-time pressure to produce in a big way,” Bohls said. “It just seems that most of the momentum from the Johnny Manziel years has completely disappeared.”
In the two years that Manziel donned an A&M uniform the total offensive production
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was above 7,300 yards. In the three years
following Johnny Football’s departure, the offensive production has gone down about 1,500 yards.
The last time the Aggies had over 7,000 yards in a season they went on to win double digit games and defeated Alabama in the same year.
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Moving past Johnny Football
The drop of production and losing so many games was a wakeup call to the Aggie fans and coaching staff alike, according to Sports Illustrated’s Andy Staples. With the sudden success A&M experienced in the conference in its first season, the reality of what it’s really like to play in one of the toughest conferences in college football is starting to set in.
“People got, maybe, a false sense of what being in the SEC was going to be like because they were so good that first year in the league,” Staples said. “They go to Alabama, they win, they’re 6-2 in the league, they’re the hottest team in America at the end of that season and everybody is so excited cause they just got in the league and ‘It’s going to be like this forever!’ and then reality sets in and you’re 4-4 every single year. Sometimes you’re 3-5. You spend all this money on the coach, upgrading the stadium, the facilities. Did you spend all this money to go 4-4 in the league every year? That’s the thing.”
Staples was quick to point out the A&M football hasn’t traditionally performed to the standards of the Aggie faithful. Staples also came to Sumlin’s defense stating he is one of the most successful coaches in Aggieland, saying there aren’t many coaches in college football that could do better and those that could wouldn’t leave their current programs.
“Historically, has A&M ever been dominant in any conference it’s been in? No. Not to the level that would please A&M fans,” Staples said. “So whenever I hear people saying ‘they need to make a coaching change,’ I ask, ‘who can do better? Name me the coach that can do better.’ The names on that list aren’t many… Kevin Sumlin has been very successful for a Texas A&M coach, they [fans and naysayers] need to be careful what they wish for.”
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Ignoring criticism
If there something Sumlin has said he’s learned in the eight years he’s been a head coach, it’s to block out outside opinions and focus on his job.
“Whatever’s said, whatever the conversation, whatever’s written, it’s not going to affect how I do my job and it’s not going to affect my day-to-day operation,” Sumlin said. “I have known this for a long time, regardless of what people say or what they do. Nothing is going to change the way I approach life, and nothing is going to change the way I approach my job.”
Since day one Sumlin knew what was expected of him since he became a graduate assistant at Washington State.
“I’ve known what’s at stake ever since I got into this.”
