SEC Head Coach Evaluation: Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Sumlin busted onto the scene at College Station with Johnny Manziel and led the Aggies to 11 wins in his inaugural season. Manziel went on to win the Heisman Trophy, the Aggies destroyed Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl, and Sumlin finished his first year at TAMU with his team ranked #5 in the AP Post Season Poll.
Texas A&M entered the 2013 season at #7 in the AP Poll and was poised for a big year with Manziel returning. Although hindsight is 20/20, there were glaring problems in the 2012 season that revealed themselves even greater in 2013 and beyond.
The was one major issue that continued to show itself even greater in the future that could have been spotted in that 2012 season: an inability to score against top defenses.
In each of TAMU’s losses, the Aggies failed to reach at least 20 points (17 against Florida, 19 against LSU). The only prominent defensive unit they beat was Alabama’s by a score of 29-24. While 29 may have been a lot against Alabama’s defense, it was not even close to what the Aggies were accustomed to.
Including their bowl game, Texas A&M scored at least 40 in 8 games, 50 in 5, 60 twice and topped out with 70 against the South Carolina State Bulldogs. When an offense produces at that clip, they cannot produce complete duds like they did against Florida and LSU and expect to win.
2013 was not any better as the Aggies’ scoring declined, even being held to 10 against LSU. Interesting note here: The Aggies still scored 42 in their loss to Alabama. LSU’s defense was always one to give Texas A&M fits, making the coup of hiring Chavis that much more important. Anyway, the offense sagged slightly, the defense gave up more points, and the win total decreased by 2. Not exactly what fans were expecting when they opened the season at #7 in the AP Preseason Poll.
Fast forward to 2014 and you have more of the same. The offense sputtered against more teams, even getting blanked by Alabama for the first time with Sumlin as coach. Sumlin’s defense was exposed further and the Aggies saw a decline in wins for the second straight year.
A recap of Sumlin’s career shows his biggest weakness thus far as a head coach. While the ineptness of his defenses is cause for concern, he is far from the first head coach to be far more specialized on one side of the ball. His biggest
Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
weakness is his stubbornness to adapt.
Example 1. Kevin Sumlin is hailed as an offensive mastermind but has yet to produce elite offenses without elite college quarterbacks. While at Houston, Sumlin won 8, 10, and 12 games with Case Keenum at quarterback. The year Keenum got hurt? A Houston-Sumlin low of 5 wins. Sumlin’s lowest win total at A&M came without Manziel.
Look, I know quarterbacks like Keenum and Manziel make a coach look better than he is. I know they are good for a win or two that their team should have lost. But the decline in the quality of Sumlin’s offense when he does not have a maestro throwing the ball is more than just noticeable. Sumlin has to find a way to keep his offense producing at high levels when his quarterback is not a future NFL starter or Heisman winner.
Example 2. It took three years of embarrassingly bad defense for Kevin Sumlin to hire Chavis. John Chavis may not have been willing to leave before this year, but something should have been done to improve the defense. Other elite coordinators that A&M may have been able to lure were able to pass by. A team should not continually add elite talent to a unit and continue to stagnate or get worse.
So where does that leave Kevin Sumlin and his seat at Texas A&M? His offense, defense, and win total has been on the decline every year he has been at College Station. Is the Chavis hire enough to save him?
All records data courtesy of fbsschedules.com
Next: The Verdict