Kevin Sumlin: Living Proof of How Coaches CAN Adapt
Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports
2012 doesn't seem like it was too far ago.
Johnny Manziel and the Aggies stunned Alabama in 2012, a game that has become more of an aberration than a sign.
Mostly we remember 2012 as the year where Johnny Football took over and brought down the high & mighty Alabama Crimson Tide with his amazing play that game. It also did one more thing: overexpose the whole idea of quick-strike, no huddle offenses were going to be the thing of the future in college football, and it was led by one Kevin Sumlin.
Sumlin brought back Houston football in a big way.
Kevin Sumlin's track record was the same at Texas A&M as it was in Houston: a air-raid style offense that would make the quick strike touchdowns and score 45 points per game or higher. Defense was an optional as not many teams could match speed and talent with Sumlin's teams in Houston. Plus, there was a vast difference of playing the likes of Rice, UTEP, UAB, and SMU than Alabama, Ole Miss, and LSU. So Sumlin had Houston look like a major studly program that hadn't really played anybody in that stretch. But it did catch the eye of the Aggies as they were looking to make a splash in the SEC alongside Missouri.
And splashed he did. The Aggies rolled in 2012 notably with their win against Alabama and a Cotton Bowl win against old Big 12 rival in Oklahoma. The next year while the Aggies fell back to 8-5 largely because Manziel had been off his leash, there were many people thinking the Aggies would sooner or later compete with Alabama (they lost to the Tide in the 2012 rematch, but the Aggies gave them major fits all game and lost 49-42). It also gave the likes of the media saying how the offensive styles of Alabama and Georgia where it was a "run-oriented style mixed with ball control" were dinosaurs. Add the fact the other Big 12 squad Missouri won the SEC East, many thought the change of power would shift to the old Big 12 schools, as coach Bob Stoops pointed how the SEC couldn't handle what those two did.
Alabama curbstomped Texas A&M 59-0 in 2014, marking the end of how the Aggies air raid strategy would overtake the SEC.
But then 2013 happened. Manziel was gone and many wondered if Kenny Hill would do well. And he did start off well. The Aggies destroyed SEC East favorite South Carolina and waxed their next 3 opponents. EVERY major media outlet had given the Aggies the national championship by the end of September and had Hill winning the Heisman outright. In the process, his parents also trademarked the nickname "Kenny Trill" similar to what Manziel did with Johnny Football and everything was looking rosy. Well.........................didn't pan out that way. The Aggies slipped in Starkville to an up-and-coming Mississippi State team. Then after that got knocked down by an Ole Miss team in College Station. And then they went to Alabama, where the Tide just decimated the Aggies. The quick strike offense wasn't panning out and it kept the Aggies defense out there for too long, wearing them out and the Aggies dream season turned into a nightmare and fast. Hill lost his composure and was benched pretty much after that game. Then he split for TCU. After that, nobody talked about the awesome Aggies offense, but an offense that was out of touch with the SEC (how ironic) and a defense that was getting shredded by everybody.
John Chavis deserves a lot of credit for the Aggies improvement on defense.
Kevin Sumlin knew he had to improve the defense, which would give up 40 or more even in wins in previous years, hired John Chavis away from LSU. But many thought the damage was done because Sumlin wanted that passing game to be top notch. Once again, the Aggies got off to a red hot start with the offense clicking and the defense making strides. But another game against Alabama in October where the Tide dominated in all aspects of the game and the Aggies went into freefall mode again. This time, many (myself included) had Sumlin penned for being on the hot seat in 2016, maybe moreso than Les Miles. Fans were irked by Sumlin and his slack approach to discipline and how he treated the likes of Manziel and Hill where other QB's transferred from College Station elsewhere.
But something about this Aggies team is different this year. This is not the Aggies of the Manziel era where it was quick-strike and keep the defenses off base with the passing. It is more of a ground attack that is getting Texas A&M rolling in the SEC West now. And the defense is becoming stronger and stronger, led by Myles Garrett. And while it might not be as good as Alabama's yet, they have to be considered the second best defense in the SEC now.
All because Sumlin has changed his mentality.
Texas A&M beat Arkansas because of how they held the line..........numerous times.
Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Sumlin's attitude (at least in my eyes) was that he could outgun the likes of Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss, etc. and win those games. That strategy hasn't worked and of all things to consider that 2012 Alabama win might have costed Sumlin his job down the road. But he realized he would have to be physical on both sides of the ball. Now the Aggies are a serious threat on the ground and of all things have issues in the air now (part of it is Trevor Knight who is not completing many passes), but the defense has been studly. If you want to see how it was, look at the Arkansas game where they held that goal line what seemed like a few hundred times on the Razorbacks. It was a thing of beauty for a defensive fan like me.
Now, does this mean I am buying into the Aggie hype? Yes, for once. Because Sumlin changed. He changed the mentality of how he should win games in the SEC. And it has worked to this point. Of course, the next few weeks with Tennessee and Alabama coming up will decide how well Sumlin has changed the mentality, but if he continues this way, he will be more than safe in College Station.
-Fan in the Obstructed Seat
