Exclusive: Kevin Sumlin discusses the growth of a team

Billy Liucci: Coach, when you guys play a game like you did last week against South Carolina State, is the bottom line to go out and handle your business and come out healthy?

Kevin Sumlin: “You worry about your team playing well, particularly against an opponent like that. Then, you worry about establishing a level of play when you’re supposed to win and not be sweating at halftime. I think our guys handled the whole situation pretty well, and that’s part of maturity. That’s what we are looking for out of this team, not a team that’s up and down, but a consistent team.”

BL: From the Florida game until today, have you seen the team going in that general direction?

Sumlin: “Generally, I think we’re handling that. With the things we are asking them to do, you can see that as a coach. I think our effort was really good on offense and defense from the first game. On special teams, we challenged the guys and they have really picked it up on the return and on coverage.”

BL: What did you do to challenge them? What did you tell the guys? You put new guys out there.

Sumlin: “Well, we put new guys out there which helps. We put some backup receivers out there and some defensive backs that didn’t play a significant role in the first game. I think the transition is, ‘alright, am I going to pout because I’m not playing a bunch with the starters’ or ‘how can I help this team win?’ As a coach and as players you try to move towards that. That seems easy, but there are some guys who are really affected by that. The guys who went out there, the Donnie Baggs’, the Nate Askew’s beat the guys who weren’t doing a whole bunch for us in the starting roles and are now really significant in our return game and are really taking pride in it.”

BL: I want to talk about Johnny (Manziel) from a different perspective than I think you’ve talked about a lot. You said you would like to see him cut loose a little more after the game, and you’ve dealt with some pretty spectacular quarterbacks dating all the way back to Purdue and maybe even before that. Is Manziel the most unique in terms of his talent? In terms of being able to coach him at a young age, does he present some different challenges to you?

Sumlin: “Yeah, he really does. He’s been so successful in his style of play. I think the things you look for out of quarterbacks are guys who won in high school and who know how to win. His skill set is very different and he wants to be good. I think that when you get into pressure situations, you get back to what you know. He’s always been the fastest guy on the field and has always been able to do some things by running around. I think he’s finding out that he has to be able to sit in the pocket and throw the ball. There are ten other guys on the field including five skill guys that can help him instead of him having to make every play on his own. Every play does not have to be a game changing play.

"Patience is a virtue and all those things, but it’s hard to learn all that when you’re snapping the ball every 18 seconds and you have about four seconds to make those types of decisions. There is no substitute for experience, and he’s getting all that right now. I see him getting better and I see him working at things. It doesn’t always come out the way you want it to, but that’s part of growth. As a quarterback, there is really no substitute for the game time speed or game time pressure by knowing the consequences of your mistake can be a win or lose type situation.”

BL: It would seem like yourself and Kliff (Kingsbury) would have to have that same level of patience with a young guy. In the spring, his deal was not to make those mistakes, whereas now, is it a simple fact of having to let him work his way into a comfort zone?

Sumlin: “Yeah, he’s got to work through that. The negative in the spring has become a positive for him. He was careless with the football in the spring and he’s really worked through that. I think if anything else, he’s got confidence to take off with the ball or take a sack instead of putting the ball into a jeopardizing position.

"I listened to (Jeff) Driskel speak the other day about how he’s getting better after the number of sacks he took in our game. Neither one of them turned the ball over which created a really close football game. From that standpoint, there are some real positives that he’s thinking about it. Quarterback development comes over time. Unfortunately, a lot of the things you learn not to do by making mistakes. He’s made his share of them already, but he’s learned from them. You just don’t see them as glaring mistakes right now.”

BL: I get the feeling from hearing you talk that you expect Arkansas to look a lot more like that preseason number eight team on Saturday than you do one that has lost three straight games. You referenced the wounded animal.

Sumlin: “The most dangerous type is a team with their back against the wall. They are a team that has tremendous pride. They played without one their quarterback, one of the best in the country, for a game and a half and have been rattled around a little bit, but they still have real weapons. Cobi Hamilton is an exceptional wide receiver, Kniles Davis, a big athletic offensive line, Alonzo Highsmith … they have players and there is a reason why they were ranked like that. I think that whenever you lose a quarterback like that, it’s enough to rattle you. The drop-off to the next guy was significant enough, with all the other issues the last thing they needed. He’s back now, and I think that just listening to them talk, it’s clear that they need to win this game. Any situation like that is dangerous.”

BL: Does the start of the game become even more magnified? You guys got off to such a great start against Florida.

Sumlin: “You know, it could be. The game time situation could be. At 11-something in the morning, things will be different for a lot people. Being able to start like that and get going, that would be a concern for me just that we haven’t been in that situation since camp, playing or practicing at that time of day. We adjusted our schedule and are trying to do some things to make sure that that doesn’t affect us. I would think from that standpoint that the start of the game, just like any game, is important. Obviously, the finish of the game is as important as anything else, too. We’ve got to play four quarters from here on out. We’re playing SEC football, so in order for us to be effective, we need to consistent.”

BL: There is a team full of guys coming down here that haven’t lost to Texas A&M. Now, none of those games have been at Kyle Field … Is that something you point out to your guys, looking at that record?

Sumlin: “I haven’t. I’ve gone away from that, that’s just kind of been the way we have done things this year. There is no last year. Looking at last year’s game, Kniles Davis didn’t play and they have a whole different defensive system. We’re not playing in Dallas. They are two different teams right now. I’ve steered most of my comments for every game based on this year. There are enough people out there talking about what happened last year for the players to hear it from them, that’s what you’re here for. I’m trying to get that out of their mind.”

BL: Finally, you guys have done a great job, as evident by the final score of the last two games, of not looking ahead. But it’s here now, and it’s SEC pretty much the whole way out. You might as well count Louisiana Tech as one of those games, too. As a head coach, how excited are you? I know it’s daunting, but this is what you coach for.

Sumlin: “Yeah, it’s good. Our guys have done a good job of approaching it this way. It’s really been easier, just because it’s the philosophy we’ve taken. It’s the way I’ve always done things. It’s been a one week at a time, real coach-speak kind of deal, but we’re worry more about us. The focus has not been on the opponent, but us getting better by fixing our own issues, maintaining effort in one area, raising effort in another and cutting down on penalties which we did last week. We have enough things to worry about besides the opponent.

"Our philosophy is pretty simple … let us coaches worry about the schemes and plan, we’ll bring those to you, but whatever we’re doing, we need to do it with great effort and we need to be smart about how we’re doing it. Our team has been playing very hard. The penalty situation and some of the things that have happened show that we haven’t been the smartest team. I think that going from 18 penalties in two games, to just two last week shows that we’re making strides that way. To me, consistency is important and we don’t want to be a team that is up and down. We have to continue to play with effort, but play smart at the same time. If we can do that, I think we have enough talent to beat anybody.”