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Texas A&M Football

The Next Step: Why Kevin Sumlin is still the right guy for Texas A&M

November 11, 2015
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It seemed like a good move at the time.

When Kevin Sumlin was hired to lead the Aggies I thought it was brilliant choice for a program that had grown mundane and stale.

Every program needs the “right guy” in charge. Urban Meyer was the right guy at Florida and Ohio State. Nick Saban is the right guy at Alabama. Brian Kelly is the right guy at Notre Dame.

Charlie Strong was the right guy at Louisville, but may not be the right guy at Texas. Rich Rodriguez was the right guy at West Virginia, but not at Michigan.

Sumlin struck me as the right guy for A&M. He provided a much-needed edge and attitude to a team that had little of either. 

A decade before I’d covered A&M when Sumlin was promoted to offensive coordinator by then-head coach R.C. Slocum to jump start an offense that had been stagnant.

That offense flourished under Sumlin. The Aggies scored least 31 points in five straight games. Always unafraid to take chances, Sumlin brought a true freshman quarterback — Reggie McNeal — off the sidelines to lead a 30-26 upset victory over No. 1 Oklahoma.

He was bold and fearless. Those qualities were desperately needed for a program that under Dennis Franchione and Mike Sherman too often appeared to be playing scared.

Alex Parker, TexAgs Offensive coordinator Jake Spavital is currently under fire, but impatient Aggies forget Sumlin has made decisive change when needed before.
Sumlin brought a high-speed offense to a team that had been stuck on dial up. He played music at practice. He brought in rappers. He recruited with a helicopter. He pulled off the difficult task of making College Station a cool destination for highly regarded football prospects like Myles Garrett, Daylon Mack, Speedy Noil, Christian Kirk and Kyler Murray.

Sumlin also was brutally demanding. If the offensive line coach underperformed, he was replaced. The offense sputtered under one coordinator, Sumlin promoted someone else into that position. He brought in heralded defensive coordinator John Chavis to fix an inept defensive unit.

At that time, I was convinced Sumlin was the right choice to lead Texas A&M to championships.

Frankly, I still do.

Maybe it’s because at my age I’ve learned that patience is, indeed, a virtue. Of course, the growing anti-Sumlin faction might say they’ve already shown too much patience.

They might have a case.

There was so much optimism and momentum surrounding the 11-2 finish in Sumlin’s first season that A&M was able to renovate Kyle Field and build and upgrade many other facilities.

Since then, the results haven’t matched Sumlin’s swagger. And that’s surprising.

A&M has everything a coach needs to build a championship program. Its stadium is a showplace. Its other facilities are as good as or better than any in college football.

There is tremendous fan support. There is membership in the Southeastern Conference. A&M has provided funds to hire elite assistant coaches such as Chavis. Sumlin has use of the aforementioned helicopter to recruit one of the most fertile recruiting areas in the country. Geography is his friend. Houston is just about an hour away. Dallas is a little less than three hours. San Antonio isn’t much farther.

What is needed to field a championship caliber team that Texas A&M does not provide?

Yet, since Johnny Manziel and many other players that Sumlin inherited have moved on, A&M has not been able to compete with the SEC’s elite programs.

The Aggies have been blown out by Alabama. They’ve been pushed around by Ole Miss.
Then, they appeared woefully out-coached in a loss to Auburn.

Alex Parker, TexAgs The returning talent, current level of recruiting and a 9-4 finish could propel A&M into an excellent 2016 season and beyond.
Suddenly, a team that looked like a championship contender in early October is in sixth place in the SEC West race. The fall has been so dramatic that even Sumlin used the dreaded words “next year” at this weekly press conference.

“There are a lot of young guys having a learning experience,” he said on Tuesday. “We’re not a young football team but we are a team that has a lot of players coming back next year.”

Aggies cringe at the words “next year.” They’ve been waiting for “next year” since 1939, or at least 1998. They’re tired of waiting.

Yet, the feeling here is that Sumlin will make necessary changes and will reward those Aggies who were patient.

The guess here is they won’t have wait until next year, either.

Look for the Aggies to post an easy victory over Western Carolina. They should follow that with a win over Vanderbilt. At this point a victory in Baton Rouge seems unlikely, but a bowl victory isn’t.

A strong finish would show progress. It would provide some momentum for 2016. It would give hope for the future.

It would also give Aggies reason to believe that Sumlin is still the right guy for Texas A&M.
Discussion from...

The Next Step: Why Kevin Sumlin is still the right guy for Texas A&M

21,479 Views | 47 Replies | Last: 8 yr ago by AncientArmy
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Lateralus Ag
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AG
quote:
quote:
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Year 4 of mediocrity would suggest he is not the right guy.


It's surprising how many people here ignore the fact we are getting worse, not better.
If you think we are getting worse, then you must not be watching our team. This team, now, has better talent and depth across the board since Sumlin has arrived.

Its pretty clear most people were spoiled by 2012, where we had a very experienced defense (but with absolutely NO depth), the advantage of other teams not being prepared for us or our type of game, a QB who turned out to be a once-in-a-lifetime type of player, and an O-line filled with future NFL players.

Teams have adjusted. We dont take anyone by surprise anymore, which means we have to be better in other areas. And we still lack experience and depth in some important areas, like LB and RB.

We are getting to where we need to be. We are building that depth and experience ONLY comes with time. Sumlin has been recruiting great. The talent is coming in.

People want to point out that its year 4 and we should expect a championship or move on, but I think this is a poor argument due to our unique situation. We had to jump from the worst power 5 conference, where we were only mediocre AND RECRUITED LIKE IT, to the best conference in the country, where we have to play the best teams in the country every other week. I cant think of any other coach that has had to rebuild a team AND make that kind of transition. We came in with only 3 star talent and 0 depth and have to play against teams that have been recruiting 4 and 5 star talent, 2 or 3 deep at most positions, every year for at least the last decade. Most coaches at least have comparable talent to their competition when they take over as a new head coach. We were not even close to comparable in that department. We got lucky with Johnny, our amazing O-line, our upperclassmen-heavy defense, and the element of surprise in 2012.

Sumlin has been building this program to where it needs to be in order to compete year in and out. We are not quite there, but its VERY clear to me that this program is moving in the right direction.




I'm not sure your serious. My friend, we did not jump from the worst power 5 conference. Far from it. It was at times ranked the best of the power 5 over our last few seasons. We did not have mediocre talent nor mediocre recruiting classes. I will give you lack of depth. Sumlin inherited a program with a ton of NFL talent. It showed his first year. Since then, the regression in player development has been HUGE. The previous regime was far better at player development. It's not even close at this point. Outside of Alabama and maybe LSU there is not one SEC team that is littered with 2 deep 4-5 stars. We had the talent coming in to compete with the SEC. Sumlin was gift wrapped a very good team with all the extras to build upon.
We are in year 4. Year 4! And the regression of quality play is spiraling downwards. You can take all the swag, DJ's, sparkling uniforms, and all the the other gimmicky stuff and call it what it is. Smoke and mirrors. It's crap bro.
Maybe I was trolled, and I took it. How you can say this program is going in the right direction is beyond me. I'm so tired of the stupid swag mentality.


Sip alert. Hey sippy, BDF sucked then, sucks now.
MyComputerCareer
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What are we entitled to expect after the investment we have made in Sumlin? Should we expect to be competitive against SEC West opponents by year 4? Or should we expect hover around .500 in conference until we can recruit a transcendent QB?
superbowlringd
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I was for Kirby Smart then AND now.
LaTex
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quote:
quote:
quote:
quote:
quote:
Year 4 of mediocrity would suggest he is not the right guy.


It's surprising how many people here ignore the fact we are getting worse, not better.
If you think we are getting worse, then you must not be watching our team. This team, now, has better talent and depth across the board since Sumlin has arrived.

Its pretty clear most people were spoiled by 2012, where we had a very experienced defense (but with absolutely NO depth), the advantage of other teams not being prepared for us or our type of game, a QB who turned out to be a once-in-a-lifetime type of player, and an O-line filled with future NFL players.

Teams have adjusted. We dont take anyone by surprise anymore, which means we have to be better in other areas. And we still lack experience and depth in some important areas, like LB and RB.

We are getting to where we need to be. We are building that depth and experience ONLY comes with time. Sumlin has been recruiting great. The talent is coming in.

People want to point out that its year 4 and we should expect a championship or move on, but I think this is a poor argument due to our unique situation. We had to jump from the worst power 5 conference, where we were only mediocre AND RECRUITED LIKE IT, to the best conference in the country, where we have to play the best teams in the country every other week. I cant think of any other coach that has had to rebuild a team AND make that kind of transition. We came in with only 3 star talent and 0 depth and have to play against teams that have been recruiting 4 and 5 star talent, 2 or 3 deep at most positions, every year for at least the last decade. Most coaches at least have comparable talent to their competition when they take over as a new head coach. We were not even close to comparable in that department. We got lucky with Johnny, our amazing O-line, our upperclassmen-heavy defense, and the element of surprise in 2012.

Sumlin has been building this program to where it needs to be in order to compete year in and out. We are not quite there, but its VERY clear to me that this program is moving in the right direction.




I'm not sure your serious. My friend, we did not jump from the worst power 5 conference. Far from it. It was at times ranked the best of the power 5 over our last few seasons. We did not have mediocre talent nor mediocre recruiting classes. I will give you lack of depth. Sumlin inherited a program with a ton of NFL talent. It showed his first year. Since then, the regression in player development has been HUGE. The previous regime was far better at player development. It's not even close at this point. Outside of Alabama and maybe LSU there is not one SEC team that is littered with 2 deep 4-5 stars. We had the talent coming in to compete with the SEC. Sumlin was gift wrapped a very good team with all the extras to build upon.
We are in year 4. Year 4! And the regression of quality play is spiraling downwards. You can take all the swag, DJ's, sparkling uniforms, and all the the other gimmicky stuff and call it what it is. Smoke and mirrors. It's crap bro.
Maybe I was trolled, and I took it. How you can say this program is going in the right direction is beyond me. I'm so tired of the stupid swag mentality.


Sip alert. Hey sippy, BDF sucked then, sucks now.


Make no mistake, I love being in the SEC, but to imply that the big 12 was the worst of the power 5, when we left, is dumb.
ham98
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sumlin is the right man for the job because he can make it seem like next year will be our year
shields892
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AG
In Sumlin I trust
Tango Mike
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quote:
Johnny brought the fans a lot of entitlement that they rightfully shouldn't have. The 2 good Johnny years made everyone forget about the decade of mediocrity proceeding Sumlin. The 2012 and 2013 recruiting classes were extremely lackluster but the past 2 have put us in a great place for the near future.


So you're saying that JFF was solely responsible for 2012 and without him Sumlin would have been 6-6/7-5? Then why didn't we take Sumlin's raise and just pay JFF?
AcctAg11
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AG
Let me break down your post and respond to it piecemeal:

quote:

I'm not sure your serious. My friend, we did not jump from the worst power 5 conference. Far from it. It was at times ranked the best of the power 5 over our last few seasons. We did not have mediocre talent nor mediocre recruiting classes. I will give you lack of depth. Sumlin inherited a program with a ton of NFL talent. It showed his first year.
Yes, he inherited talent. They were upperclassmen and then they graduated and we were left with nothing. Sherman's last few recruiting class ranks, according to Scout.com:

2009: 12 (where a lot of the NFL talent came from)
2010: 25
2011: 31
2012: 21 (You could argue this one isnt 100% on Sherman, but Sumlin only had a couple months after he came in before signing day. Its mostly on Sherman, IMO, since recruiting happens over years)

I liked the guy, but Sherman did not set this program up for the future. I hate to use the cliche that "he left the cupboard bare", but he definitely did not recruit any depth, and the top quality he was able to recruit paled in comparison to what Sumlin has brought in, after Sherman's first class.

quote:
Since then, the regression in player development has been HUGE. The previous regime was far better at player development. It's not even close at this point.
I havent seen evidence of this yet. And I don't know how you can even make this argument, as we have barely seen any players make it through the Sumlin era. Our 2012 and 2013 classes (which would have brought in our current upperclassmen) were pretty pitiful and many players recruited there are no longer with the program or were beaten out by younger, better talent. I wont disagree that Sherman was great at developing players, but we just don't have enough evidence to say that Sumlin isn't good at it.


quote:
Outside of Alabama and maybe LSU there is not one SEC team that is littered with 2 deep 4-5 stars. We had the talent coming in to compete with the SEC.
Outside of Alabama and LSU? OK lets look at that:

Our record in the SEC excluding those teams:

Auburn: 2-2
Arkansas: 4-0
Ole Miss: 2-2
Miss. State: 3-1
SCar: 2-0
Mizzou: 1-2 (Mizzou went on to win the East both times we lose)
Florida: 0-1 (Florida wins the East in the year we lost to them)
Vandy: 1-0

That is a 15-8 record. We are absolutely competing with and winning against these teams. That is a fact.


quote:
Sumlin was gift wrapped a very good team with all the extras to build upon.
Like I said above, Sumlin came in and had a very experienced team in 2012, but nothing behind them. When they left, we had nothing.


quote:
We are in year 4. Year 4! And the regression of quality play is spiraling downwards.
Year 4 of a transition to the SEC with a brand new coach, against established teams with better talent than we faced in the Big 12. 1 look at their recruiting classes proves this.

You are absolutely exaggerating when you say "spiraling downwards". There is nothing to indicate this. Have we had bad games? Yes, no argument here. But every team does. Its not like all the other 120+ teams are winning 12-0 every year. Someone has to win and someone has to lose. We are fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on your point of view) to be in a league of winners.

quote:
You can take all the swag, DJ's, sparkling uniforms, and all the the other gimmicky stuff and call it what it is. Smoke and mirrors. It's crap bro.
Maybe I was trolled, and I took it. How you can say this program is going in the right direction is beyond me. I'm so tired of the stupid swag mentality.
I am not a huge fan of the "swag", but if that attracts the top talent, then that is fine by me. We need talent and more of it. We are not yet established enough. I expect us to be there with 2 more good recruiting seasons. If there is one thing Sumlin has shown, its that he can bring in the recruits. That is the single, most critical piece of the puzzle. Once we get there, I think we start competing better with the big dogs (LSU, Bama) and start making runs for the conference. We are already competing, and winning, against the other teams and we are the youngest team in the west! Thats promising. I agree that we need to make some changes, but booting Sumlin now would set us back at least 2 years, from what I can see. If we cant start making runs in 2016 and 2017, then he can go, but at least we will have the talent then for whoever comes in next. We need stability at the Head Coach position now more than ever. We are almost there!


average_joker
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AG
I hate to be "that guy," but your editor let your title slip to print without the proper punctuation. There should be a question mark at the end of the title. HTH.
SeattleAgJr
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Silver Taps
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Looking for us to turn the W/L trend upward.
AncientArmy
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AG
quote:
He played music at practice. He brought in rappers. He recruited with a helicopter. He pulled off the difficult task of making College Station a cool destination for highly regarded football prospects like Myles Garrett, Daylon Mack, Speedy Noil, Christian Kirk and Kyler Murray.

You can offer swagger, but a team has to earn it (just like the Wrecking Crew moniker). Right now there is no swag.

Make the team practice to Blue Grass or George Jones until they beat an SEC West rival by 30 points or more.
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