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On if Kevin Sumlin (36-16, 17-15 SEC in four seasons) will be coach at Texas A&M in 2016:
"In response to your question, at no time have we ever thought about it and discussed it. That's about as clear as you can be. We've got to be realistic here - if you look at what Kevin has accomplished in the four years he's been here from a historical standpoint, it's at the top. This is a brutal league. It's a 12-round boxing match every time you go out on a Saturday. It's good news-bad news. Good news it's the best league in the country. Bad news it's the best league in the country."
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On concerns about the perception of the program right now:
"If I had a dollar for every rumor in this business I'd be retired a long time ago. That's 20-plus years I've been an athletic director. I can't get caught up in all the rumors and innuendo. It's gotten more difficult because of social media. ...Coach Sumlin is our coach; we're looking forward to the future. He has done not only from a competitive standpoint but an academic standpoint all the principles that we think Texas A&M represents he represents.
"Has it been perfect, no? Sometimes people get in that position and it's difficult to change. He's been extremely open-minded. And he has a willingness to change. I think that took place this weekend [in separating from offensive coordinator Jake Spavital]."
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On if Sumlin is fully engaged in fixing the program's issues:
"Gosh almighty, of course he is. Yes, I think he's more than fully engaged.
"...People here like a lot of other programs, they are concerned and they have pride, and I respect that. They're not apathetic, I will say that. That's OK."
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On what issues he wants to see addressed:
"He's addressed one of the issues with a personnel change from an offensive standpoint."
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On if he has the support to hire the best offensive coordinator possible:
"Have we ever not supported him fully? If he succeeds, we all succeed.
"We all want to win....You don't change for change sake, you change to make things better. I tip my cap to Kevin. He's always looking, how can we tweak? What can we do? If you look at it the four years I've been here, the exit interviews I do with student-athletes, they have huge amount of strong support and belief in Kevin and respect the heck out of him and their experiences here."
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On the high-profile transfers of two starting quarterbacks before the bowl game:
"Not only for football but all sports...you don't want any student to leave. Any student that leaves it's bothersome no matter what sport. There's myriad different reasons why they are leaving. ...Students have changed, but what's probably changed more is parents. And parents have changed a lot, whereas before if a situation comes up they would tell the student athlete "no, you're not coming home.' Now there's a lot of involvement with parents. Sometimes you've got to separate the umbilical cord. I'm talking about all sports."
quote:http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/college-sports/texasamaggies/2016/01/04/texas-ad-eric-hyman-coach-sumlin-coach-looking-forward-future
On the program's future:
"We're looking forward. The whole football program is moving forward. Kevin Sumlin is the captain of our ship and the future looks good. Where we are in position football-wise, we're in a very strong position."
