Texas A&M AD gives coach Kevin Sumlin vote of confidence
Texas A&M Athletic Director Eric Hyman has given coach Kevin Sumlin a vote of confidence.
In an interview with the Dallas Morning News, Hyman said he had no plans to fire Sumlin despite growing unrest from the A&M fan base following an 8-5 season and the transfers of five-star quarterbacks Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray, which left the Aggies with just one scholarship quarterback heading into the bowl game and compounded that unrest (former Oklahoma QB Trevor Knight has since announced his intention to transfer to A&M).
“At no time have we ever thought about it and discussed it. That’s about as clear as you can be,” Hyman told the Morning News. “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.”
Sumlin’s tenure with the Aggies started well. He went 11-2 and had a Heisman-winning quarterback in Johnny Manziel. But in Year Two, Manziel started to have off-field issues and the Aggies struggled. They finished 9-4 in 2013 and now have had back-to-back 8-5 campaigns.
Recruiting had been one of Sumlin’s strong suits, but the loss of Allen and Murray signified a disconnection between those top players and that staff.
“There’s myriad different reasons why they are leaving,” Hyman said. “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.”
Hyman also said Sumlin had the university’s backing when he decided to part ways with offensive coordinator Jake Spavital.
“We all want to win,” Hyman told the Morning News. “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.”
Hyman didn’t say whether Sumlin was going to be immune to criticism if the program didn’t make any strides in 2016, but he was supportive of Sumlin moving forward.
“We’re looking forward. The whole football program is moving forward,” Hyman said. “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.”
For more Texas A&M news, visit AggieYell.com.
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