Amidst a regime change, 2017 Aggies are focused on Wake Forest

In the midst of a month-long glut of stories about the Texas A&M football program, one important group has been conspicuously overlooked: the Texas A&M football team.

First there was the November 26 firing of head coach Kevin Sumlin, whose six-year tenure came to an end a day after the Aggies lost to LSU by 24 points. Sumlin's dismissal punctuated weeks of speculation about his status, but it only intensified the preoccupation with who would succeed him in College Station. 

Thus began a week of "Will he or won't he?" as pundits debated the likelihood of Florida State's Jimbo Fisher leaving a program where he'd won a national title after declining to depart for other suitors, namely an LSU program that has beaten the Aggies six years in a row. That guessing game lasted less than a week, and the vacancy in Aggieland was officially filled when Fisher was introduced as A&M's new head coach on December 4.  

While those stories, which admittedly carry an offseason sort of feel, have dominated the headlines, it turns out that Texas A&M's 2017 season isn't over. Flying under the cover of turnover at the top, the Aggies are back on the field preparing for a December 29th Belk Bowl showdown with Wake Forest.

"This is our true game week," interim head coach Jeff Banks said after practice on Monday. "Today was just like a regular Monday during the season. Guys were flying around. Really good energy. I think they've made the transition nicely."

When asked whether all the members of Sumlin's staff were still involved, Banks offered a succinct reply perhaps intended to emphasize the point that the 2017 team and coaches are taking a business-as-usual approach to bowl preparation.

"We're all here. We're the same ones that have been coaching for twelve games," he said.

Aggie players appeared to be of the same mind, insisting they've accepted what they can't control and are focused on controlling what they can — how they play against the Demon Deacons.

"It's been kind of a roller coaster season," junior defensive end Landis Durham admitted. "But you know, you can't really control things that happen in the past. We've got a lot of hard workers on this team, and we're going to Charlotte on the 29th. That's what everybody in that locker room is focused on right now, and that's what we're going to go do: go to Charlotte and go get a win."

Durham acknowledged the noise around the program as the season drew to a close but waxed philosophical when asked how it impacted him and the team.

Carlos Carrillo, TexAgs

Following the coaching change in College Station, the A&M players are excited to get back to playing.

"Me being me, knowing that I really couldn't control anything, I've got to go with the flow. Whatever happens happens, and I've got to be like water and adapt," Durham said. "There definitely were some things in the air, but as a whole, we know this is a business, and this is a part of the business, so we've just got to move forward. It is what it is, and we've just got to keep on going."

Senior running back Keith Ford, who recently earned his degree, offered a similar perspective.

"We're right back on the same path we were before, focused on football and focused on the next game," Ford reiterated.

All the attention given to Sumlin and Fisher is understandable, of course. The money they're paid alone is enough to generate a year's worth of headlines. And there is no question that it's crucial to have the right coach at the helm of a program with as much potential as Texas A&M.

But the reminder that the Aggies are focused on one final game this season is a welcome one. After all, 100,000 people don't cram into a half billion dollar stadium to watch the guys wearing headsets. It's still about the team on the field. And as the Aggie players were happy to point out, this team isn't done yet.