Sumlin was bitter about how the fans treated him toward the end. Remember the letter that was sent to his house? He went on in detail about that, about his daughter reading it ... I hated to hear that story. Had heard it in print, to hear it from Sumlin himself was terrible

He also talked in detail about the two QB's. Called them spoiled, especially Kyler. He didn't even want the kid, according to him, but was forced by internal pressures to recruit him anyway. Supposedly Kyler messed up the team chemistry, which I can believe from supplemental information that came out after he went to Oklahoma.

I asked him about his job at AZ, and all he could talk about was the QB. He wasn't too thrilled with the rest of what he'd inherited, and told me that recruiting was hard in Arizona. Personally, I felt a little sorry for him at the time. Asked him if he had an Uber, shook his hand, and wished him luck.

I don't think he's a terrible person, but he's not a good coach, and has personal issues when put in high pressure situations from what I can tell - drinking in particular. I think he couldn't handle the magnifying glass at A&M.

EDIT after reading thread: I told him I lived in CO, and maybe he assumed the ring was from the Air Force Academy, since I told him I had served in the Air Force. He was pretty hammered ...

This post was edited on 12/15/20 at 5:22 pm

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Posted by PowerTool

The dark side of the road

Member since Dec 2009

21287 posts

Posted on 12/16/20 at 7:55 pm to ColoradoAg

quote:
Remember the letter that was sent to his house? He went on in detail about that, about his daughter reading it ... I hated to hear that story. Had heard it in print, to hear it from Sumlin himself was terrible

That sucks but the letter-writer was arrested for stalking a Houston socialite and he was a Longhorn. Turns out Sumlin was just one of just many local "celebrities" this guy had sent hateful letters to. For Sumlin to use that as an example of how fans treated him is absolute garbage, and just shows what an out of touch drunk he was. Fans were demanding that A&M "back the truck up" to make him even richer every time he and his agent floated a B.S. rumor about the NFL or some other college coming after him. He and his agent did a fantastic job of manipulating self-loathing Aggies into thinking he was the best they could ever get.

quote:
I think he couldn't handle the magnifying glass at A&M.

That part I can understand. I've always been creeped out by the old closet-case jocksniffers on TexAgs posting detailed stories about the backup WR they saw at Wings N More or the position coach they "happened to run into" at Home Depot to discuss the depth chart. I'm sure some of that goes on in other college towns, but I think the creepiness of Texags tends to amplify it. Sumlin probably would've been happier in the pros (or a bigger city) where players and coaches can go out for dinner and drinks like normal people.

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Posted by WestCoastAg