Video Coverage of Sumlin Press Conference

DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS BILL BYRNE

 

"I met Kevin for the first time last week in New York City. One of things I always look for when meeting coaches is fit. I’m concerned about whether they fit the university, whether they fit with the values of the institution, whether they fit with the staff, whether they understand the culture. We talked for about two and a half hours, and the time just flew by. And I knew we had someone who not only understood the values of Texas A&M University but embraced them. He’d been before. He’d been here as one of us, he’d been here as the enemy. The thing I liked was how genuine his love for Texas A&M is, how much he loves working in the state of Texas, how much he loves what we stand for here at Texas A&M. I want to welcome Kevin Sumlin as the new head football coach at Texas A&M University."

 

HEAD COACH KEVIN SUMLIN

 

"Thank you very much, Bill. I appreciate it. You know, this is a very, very exciting time for me and my family. First of all I want to thank (University) President (R. Bowen) Loftin, the Board of Regents, and Bill Byrne for their diligence and patience through this process. I want to thank my wife Charlene, who’s here today, even more for her diligence and patience through this process. It’s interesting. For me, having been here before, I have a real understanding and appreciation for the traditions and the history of Texas A&M, and the importance and tradition of The 12th Man in general, but in regards to football. It’s a very, very, very special place for me personally. I’ve had the opportunity, as Bill said, to work here, to come in to Kyle Field for seven years through either the home locker room or the visiting locker room. For me personally it’s a very special place. I’ve had the opportunity over the last 20-something years to play in some of the so-called greatest stadiums and venues in the country. There’s none finer on game day than Kyle Field. For me as a football coach to have the opportunity to lead our university into the SEC, to play in arguably the best conference and best division in college football, is an exciting thing for me. And it should be an exciting thing for this university, it should be an exciting thing for our players, for our alumni. It’s an opportunity that as I discussed with President Loftin and with Bill that I thought was just fabulous. I can’t wait to get to work. Today’s been kind of a whirlwind. As Bill has said, there had been a lot of speculation but really nothing was done until Saturday morning. Since that time it’s been a whirlwind. We will hit the ground running today. I will be out recruiting actually this afternoon. We have a team meeting this afternoon just to get a pulse for our current team and then tonight we’ll hit the ground running and try to keep all the guys that are currently committed and get some other guys signed up here and head into the SEC with one of best recruiting classes in the history of the program."

 

 

"As I said it’s been kind of a whirlwind. I had couple hours before we met with our team in Houston, I met with the coaches there and really couldn’t tell them anything. I think the important thing to remember here are the players that are involved in this process. This is kind of a unique situation. You’ve got two teams that are in bowl games. As I told the coaches at the University of Houston, and our team, I thought I would be a distraction to their success, being the head coach here. I wanted to work through that part. Our team understood I was not walking out on them, but what I was doing was giving them the chance to be successful. I met with the staff here today, the current staff, and explained the same to them. As coaching staffs you owe it to your players to give them the best chance to win those bowl games, win their final games. So the continuity of both staffs will remain in place for both bowl games. I will really kind of assume the lead recruiting role here in the next week or two. We only have a couple weeks left to really talk about some mid-year guys and some other things. We will go through the process and really evaluate where we are. I just got really here last night, about 11 o’clock actually. I’m still in the evaluation process of both of those but I’ll be able to answer that a little bit better in the next coming weeks."

 

 

"Well, I’ve been so many places, probably too many places. Mike Price gave me first start as a coach, took a chance on me. Joe Tiller, I played for at Purdue, as a defensive player. People think of Joe Tiller as an offensive guy, he moved me to offense at Washington State. Jim Wacker. I’ve been through a bunch of guys. but I’d say the two guys that influenced me the most and probably that I talk to the most as a head coach now are R.C. Slocum and Bob Stoops, just because of the recent history. They are guys I’ve talked to just about life about how they have done things and how they present themselves and how to deal with adversity. It’s easy to deal with success but it’s a lot harder to deal with adversity, and those guys have done that. Two different styles. I just believe you can learn a lot. Joe Tiller told me one time, as an assistant coach you’re not trying to copy somebody. What you want to learn is not what to do but what not to do, and not to make the same mistakes that maybe that head coach has made. I’ve been around some great head coaches and fortunately or unfortunately they didn’t make a lot of mistakes. They won a lot of games and that’s really, really helped me."

 

It seems you probably could have gone a whole lot of places as your next move, but what about A&M has really pushed it over the edge for you?

 

"There have been opportunities really since the first year I was at the University of Houston. I think it gets back to what I said. A&M has always been a very, very special place to me. When you combine the academics with the tradition it’s a very, very unique place. It’s a very, very special place to me. I understand it, I lived here. As I said, for seven years I’ve come into Kyle Field. For a couple of those years I’ve been very, very proud of it and for five years I was scared to death coming in here, of really what I think is a 7- to 10-point advantage, at least. And that’s during the daytime. At night time, it’s something else. As for the appeal, I can’t speak for anybody else but me. To have an opportunity to be the head coach at Texas A&M is something very, very special to me. Also, going into the SEC--you combine that with one of great traditional universities in the United States playing in probably the best league in the country and the best division in the country, it’s just a great opportunity for me and for my family. I think walking into that situation, it’s the kind of thing that you’re going to be able to surround yourself with players with coaches with faculty, obviously the administration wants the best. In my conversations with President Loftin and the Board of Regents and Bill Byrne I’m very, very comfortable with how they’re approaching that. It all starts at the top. The ability to move into the SEC and compete at the highest level I think had a little bit to do with it but it didn’t have everything to do with it. I think that’s a great situation for everybody that’s involved in this."

 

 

BYRNE: "We haven’t finalized it yet. We haven’t gone through the normal process, and we have some regents sitting right here, and they’ll be having to approve that. The basic contract is a 5-year contract, $2 million per year."

 

 

SUMLIN: "It was extremely difficult. Anyone who was at the team meeting on Saturday was extremely emotional. Anytime you work with young men and you recruit guys and go through the ups and downs, you become very, very close to them. After four years you basically see a complete class come through. There are situations where there are single-parent homes and more than a number of situations where there are no parents. The personal side of athletics comes through. Fortunately after talking with our team…I know that from a fan standpoint they may never understand it. Maybe down the road they will. But based on my communication with the players there they understand it and that’s what matters to me. As I said, when you have an opportunity like this based on what I talked about earlier--to me, after sitting down and talking with my wife, it’s something that I wanted to do and that I needed to do. I’m very, very excited to be here today. Anytime that happens, the emotions can grab you. You think about it, you get up the next morning. We pulled in here this morning, I got out of the car, came around and started walking in the building, and that’s all you needed to see. You start looking at Kyle Field, you look at the facility changes--since I’ve been here 10 years ago, it’s phenomenal. The commitment to the program--the amount of people that walked up to me and said Howdy. Real quickly I felt right back at home. I’m excited about where we are right now. I’m excited about where we’re going. I think the personal side of athletics--people think you just pick up and leave, and that wasn’t the case for me. I’ve become very close to the players and to the people who were close to the program. Those relationships, you just don’t walk away from those very lightly."

 

 

"That means a lot. I’ve said this wherever I’ve been. Fans care a great deal. Alumni care a great deal. But no one cares more than former players. Former players understand from a different perspective all of the not only financial efforts that they make but the physical effort that they made for the program and the sacrifice that they made personally as a player. They care very deeply. For me, when former players are in attendance…I’m a big believer that former players should be around the program because they understand it a little bit more and the current players are able to see them as maybe role models and what they can accomplish. To me you can’t get any bigger compliment than to have former players around and support you to be the head coach."

 

 

"It’s kind of interesting. Wherever I’ve been, we’ve done whatever is necessary to win and compete in that league or particularly in that division. A lot has been said about the SEC, and  particularly in the west--probably the toughest division in college football--that they play great defense. We’re going to do what’s necessary to win. I think I’ve shown that in my track record as we evolved, at Oklahoma. At Houston, what we’ve done there has probably been a little different, and that’s probably due to personnel. I’ve always looked at a job or offense as what do we need to do to win our division. We’re going to recruit to that philosophy. We will sit down and start with that premise. That being said, styles change based on league and based on your ability to be successful and the ability to attract the type of players that are necessary to win in that league. We’re going to be diverse in what we do. If you look back at what we did at Houston, a lot of people think we threw it a hundred times a game or 80 times a game, if you look back at what we did there we were a lot closer to being balanced than people give us credit for. We’ve had a couple guys that rushed for over 1,000 yards and done some things. Certainly our style will change based on personnel and based on league."

 

 

"We talked about that in the meeting. That was a specific question (laughter). I’m not going to say who, but it was word-for-word (laughter). If you look at the overall record, it’s .500. If you go back and look at the number of close games that were lost, I’m talking about a touchdown or less or 8 to 9 points or less, out of those .500-type games you’ll be surprised at what the percentage could be. The difference to me, at any championship level…I had a commissioner of a league tell me as an assistant coach, he said Kevin, as you move into being a head coach there’s two things you really have to do. It’s graduate your student-athletes and win close ballgames. The difference is that percentage can change dramatically in your ability to win those close ballgames instead of being in there at the end and something happen. How do you do that? That’s what we’re going to face. It begins with your style of play. It’s practicing in those situations, it’s how you do things. Fortunately or unfortunately, I’ve been in games at Oklahoma where that was an every-week thing. I can remember being in here at Kyle Field and going for it on fourth and yard at our own 32 with less than two minutes to go in the game to try and win. Those are close games and those are decisions you have to make with feel, and I have experience in that. I think the ability to get over the hump there is going to be the first thing. And recruiting to that becomes important. I think Coach Sherman has really, really laid a ground work with the type of talent that’s available. I can’t talk specifically about this recruiting class, but there are guys in this class that are outstanding players, that are leaders, that are exceptional young men, not just from an athletic standpoint but a character standpoint. And guys that are used to winning. That type of culture, you recruit that. You can bring some of that with you with a coaching staff, but you recruit that too. We’re going build off that and work towards not only being in those games at the end but closing them out."

 

 

"That’s a transitional time, no doubt about it. We’re going to have spring football. We’re excited about going into the SEC and playing football. I think we’re recruiting to that. The current players, as we get a better handle on our personnel and our depth, I’ll be able to talk about that in depth a little bit more. What you are going to get from me and my staff, we’re going to be an exciting team. We’re going to have some fun, we’re going to get better as an offense and defense and special teams. We’re going to pay attention to detail. And we’re going to worry about us. That’s been the way I’ve done things. However you look at it, I’ve never looked at who we play as being the issue. I’ve worried more about our situation and it’s been about us. Whether it’s Alabama or Alabama State, it really doesn’t matter. I worry more about Texas A&M and us getting better. We’ll hit the field and we’ll see where that is. I’m not coming here to lose, I’ll put it that way. I’m excited to be here, I’m excited to start working with these guys. As I said before to the staff here, at Houston I would have been a distraction from what they are trying to do to win a bowl game. I met with our staff here this morning, with (interim head coach) Tim (DeRuyter), and I just told him hey listen, I’m going to talk to the team today and give them just a general overview and outlook on me, but this staff owes it to this team to try to go out and win this bowl game and finish up in a positive matter. I’m not going to come in here and just try to coach this team in the next two weeks to beat Northwestern. After that, we’ll move on. We’re going to take a positive approach. I didn’t come here to do anything but win. That’s the way I’ve approached every place I’ve ever been."

 

 

"I hope both. There are a number of guys that we have recruited at Houston that are here. For whatever reason, it’s probably obvious, they chose to come to Texas A&M. I’ve run into a couple guys this morning already (and they’ve said), hey Coach, glad it worked out. And I said I’m glad it worked out too. You beat me here. And there are guys out there right now that are the same way. I’ve got I don’t how many years, more than I care to admit, in recruiting Texas. There are a lot of relationships that have been very, very strong. Because of that, I think relationships are important. How you treat people over the course of years is extremely important. Your ability to go back in that community because of your success with former student-athletes--not just playing football, but graduating and being able to come back to that community or move on with their lives and have a positive impact after they leave college. That’s what’s important. You have nothing more than your reputation. I’ve been very, very pleased with the reception so far, from a bunch of coaches and high school coaches, junior college coaches that I’ve known for the last 20 years. Just to answer your question in a short manner, I hope it’s both, I hope it’s seamless and hope it’s positive."

 

 

"I think it’s a combination of things. The brand is very, very strong, in the state of Texas and nationally. All you have to do is pull around the corner and look at the facilities. The current facilities and the facility upgrades help, and certainly the SEC helps. You combine all three of those things. It’s never really one thing. It’s not just about one person, but what you’re looking for as a coach is to give you the best possible scenario and situation you can have to be successful. Those three things—facilities, the brand of Texas A&M and the reputation and tradition, and moving into the SEC—I think give you a great possibility and a great chance to be successful in recruiting."

 

 

"If you work certain places or if you’re outside looking in--I think any assistant coach will tell you--if he won’t tell you he’s lying--you walk out on the field and you look around and you say boy, this is a nice place. You don’t get the inner workings when you go on the road. Fortunately, I had been here before as an assistant then gone on to some other places and coached and walked out on a bunch of other fields and talked to different coaches. As I said before, without a doubt for me I have a lot of personal relationships in the Bryan-College Station area. My oldest son was born here. It’s a very, very special place to me from a traditional standpoint but also a personal level. I wasn’t looking to leave the University of Houston. After my discussion with Bill Byrne earlier in the week, it was a real candid discussion. I felt extremely comfortable after about 30 minutes of talking with him and then the conversation went on for another two hours. It was a possibility after that but there was really no formal discussion until Saturday morning. Anybody who’s ever been in this business knows that until that conversation happens it’s really not reality. You can’t start thinking about a whole lot of other things. For me, on a professional and a personal level, it’s a place that’s very, very special to me.

 

 

"Well, there are a lot of firsts that have happened for me as a coach. There were a lot of records broken last season, the first at the University of Houston--hopefully in the next five years or so that won’t even be a discussion. Obviously for me, I’ve been through that. All I can say is that any success that I have will lead to the end of that being even a topic of discussion or even brought up, here in the next four or five years. Honestly that’s something that I really don’t talk about. Every time it gets brought up it’s by media. Players don’t talk about it in recruiting, parents don’t talk about it in recruiting. It’s never come up in the discussions that (Bill Byrne and I) have had. Like I said, any success that I continue to have hopefully that will not be a topic of discussion in the next four or five years."

 

 

"Anytime you’re put in a position of leadership it’s got to help you. That was a real stressful situation. A little bit different. I look back at the night that R.C. (Slocum) called me, which was a Sunday night, and said be prepared to come in here Monday morning and take over the offense in the middle of the season--that doesn’t happen very often. Looking back on that, going through those nine games and then being without a job right after that and putting that much into it was one of most stressful times of my life. I know it was probably the most stressful time in my wife’s life. As a matter of fact, I think the first game she couldn’t even stay. She had to leave, she was so sick to her stomach about what was going on. We were pretty good offensively, we did some things that helped us. We couldn’t get over the hump. Looking back on that it was a time that really, really helped me as a person and helped me professionally to deal with some things and put me in some pressure situations where you had to make some decisions and some smart decisions. A lot of times in your life when you think it’s a difficult situation and you’re not very happy about the results of it…little did I know at that time it was probably the best thing that happened to me."