Started By
Message

re: Kevin Sumlin

Posted on 12/13/20 at 11:44 pm to
Posted by Texas Weazel
Louisiana is a shithole
Member since Oct 2016
8546 posts
Posted on 12/13/20 at 11:44 pm to
Wasn't he a 5* QB before he committed to us, then was dropped to a 4* right before committing, and eventually became a 3* right after flipping to Arizona?

If so, then it could be that his offers dried up.
Posted by PowerTool
The dark side of the road
Member since Dec 2009
21215 posts
Posted on 12/14/20 at 12:13 am to
No matter what school presidents or AD's say about university values and deep national searches, I think most of them are just easily impressed by big names who give confident interviews. If they think they might sell more tickets with the new name, they don't care about the personal life.

I mean, people had some idea that he and Dana weren't exactly church mice back at UH, and it didn't hurt them. Everyone at UH has to know what Dana is like (not judging - we have similar interests), but they still hired him away from WV. I think a lot of big boosters and school administrators are just well-heeled jocksniffers who probably like the idea of a coach they can party with.
Posted by Texas Gentleman
Texas
Member since Sep 2015
2635 posts
Posted on 12/14/20 at 11:28 am to
I think he must be a good interviewer, must talk confidently, has some big names on the resume (and was only fired by one of them when he was being hired by Arizona).

I remember us getting trashed by the media when we fired him, all the talking points of A&M was expecting too much, we wouldn’t hire anyone better, we didn’t give him enough time, etc. we all knew the truth, he’s just not a good coach and isn’t going to build a program into a conference contender no matter where he’s at.

What’s everybody’s thoughts on his next move? Sit out for a year or two and enjoy the money? Spin down to HC at a non P5 school? Coordinator/assistant at G5 or maybe still P5?
Posted by PowerTool
The dark side of the road
Member since Dec 2009
21215 posts
Posted on 12/14/20 at 7:51 pm to
He’s about to get another 7 million in buyouts, on top of the 10 from A&M. He can take a break and help Mazzone teach the system.

Btw, Jive Kevin Sumlin has been fire on twitter since Saturday.
Posted by HeLeakin
Member since May 2014
3316 posts
Posted on 12/14/20 at 7:57 pm to
Some of these are already known but the thread on Sumlin on reddit is a good read


Posted by CGSC Lobotomy
Member since Sep 2011
80427 posts
Posted on 12/14/20 at 8:32 pm to
Do you have a link to those? I tried going through reddit but didn't want to swim through the trash.
Posted by HeLeakin
Member since May 2014
3316 posts
Posted on 12/14/20 at 8:48 pm to
Posted by ColoradoAg
Colorado
Member since Sep 2011
22164 posts
Posted on 12/15/20 at 3:27 pm to
I can tell you that I spoke with Kevin Sumlin for a good hour or so in a bar just off of the AZ campus a couple years ago. I was in Tucson for work. Dude was hammered when we spoke, and I did not reveal that I went to A&M or was even a fan.

He was bitter about a lot of things at the time. I cannot imagine it improved much
Posted by Dr RC
The Money Pit
Member since Aug 2011
58128 posts
Posted on 12/15/20 at 3:38 pm to
What exactly was he even bitter about? He was given all the money to do whatever he wanted and still somehow managed to screw up the QB room so badly that two NFL QBs transferred out within a week of each other. I get that both Kyle and Kyler were clearly in a "I start or I transfer" frame of mind but good lord I'll never understand why was it so difficult for him to lay down the law and say this guy is the starter end of story.
Posted by Texas Gentleman
Texas
Member since Sep 2015
2635 posts
Posted on 12/15/20 at 4:18 pm to
I’m with the above, tell us more about it.

Not sure what he’s got to be bitter about, dude got a ton of money to not do a great job. We gave him every tool to be successful (new stadium and practice facilities, big budget for coordinators/assistants, 6 years to make the program his) so he’s got nobody to blame but himself.
Posted by Texas Weazel
Louisiana is a shithole
Member since Oct 2016
8546 posts
Posted on 12/15/20 at 5:13 pm to
So I take it you don't wear your Aggie Ring? Or was Sumlin too hammered to even notice it.
Posted by ColoradoAg
Colorado
Member since Sep 2011
22164 posts
Posted on 12/15/20 at 5:19 pm to
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
Posted by Roger Klarvin
DFW
Member since Nov 2012
46555 posts
Posted on 12/15/20 at 5:21 pm to
That post isn’t even the half of it, and Sumlin was definitely running around on his wife while he was a HC here (I’m not even sure he was married yet in 2002 when he was on staff).

The part about him getting IVs in the facility for hangovers is definitely a thing. And as I’ve told y’all before, he was sent home at least once for being so hungover/still intoxicated from the night before.
Posted by PowerTool
The dark side of the road
Member since Dec 2009
21215 posts
Posted on 12/16/20 at 7:55 pm to
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.
Posted by TbirdSpur2010
ALAMO CITY
Member since Dec 2010
134026 posts
Posted on 12/17/20 at 12:41 am to
quote:

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.


THIS. Were some of our fans shitty towards him near the end? Oh, I'm sure. But for him to cite that example when it was publicly proven long ago that the letter wasn't from thr Aggie fanbase kinda goes to show that he wants to be a victim of maltreatment at the hands of TAMU, and, like you said, how ultimately out of touch he'd become.

And I'm someone who liked the attitude he brought and wanted him to succeed, even towards the end when most folks knew the jig was up.
Posted by Texas Weazel
Louisiana is a shithole
Member since Oct 2016
8546 posts
Posted on 12/17/20 at 1:06 am to
quote:

But for him to cite that example when it was publicly proven long ago that the letter wasn't from thr Aggie fanbase kinda goes to show that he wants to be a victim of maltreatment at the hands of TAMU


I think his gripe about that incident is fair. A lot of fans came after Charlene and questioned the authenticity of the claim itself. Lets not forget that a lot of people were saying she wrote it (there was an entire thread dedicated at examining the writing style and tried to pin it on her on TexAgs). Other fans were mad that she made it public as if she was supposed to just suck it up. I'm not about to tell anyone how they should react to racist behavior. Personally, I would have thrown the letter straight into the trash. But I can understand why she wanted to bring attention to a letter that ended with "or else". Instead of our community coming together and condemning it, a few Ags online were more interested in questioning her intentions (on this very board too... y'all know who y'all are ). They weren't interested in finding the perp. They were more interested in smearing the Sumlins as fake/staged/convenient victims.

I think Sumlin has a right to be mad about that one. It was an all time low for Aggie fans online.

But everything else he needs to own it. He was given the resources to win and didn't. We gave him a guaranteed contract, we upgraded facilities, renovated the stadium, and paid top dollar for his coordinators. And he never came close to sniffing a conference championship, much less a NY6 bowl.
Posted by WestCoastAg
Member since Oct 2012
145253 posts
Posted on 12/17/20 at 1:09 am to
quote:

especially Kyler. He didn't even want the kid, according to him, but was forced by internal pressures to recruit him anyway
fwiw this tracks considering he offered stidham first
This post was edited on 12/17/20 at 1:11 am
Posted by CGSC Lobotomy
Member since Sep 2011
80427 posts
Posted on 12/17/20 at 1:10 am to
You forgot that Charlene Sumlin definitively claimed it was the A&M community that did it with no proof.
Posted by TbirdSpur2010
ALAMO CITY
Member since Dec 2010
134026 posts
Posted on 12/17/20 at 8:02 am to
quote:

A lot of fans came after Charlene and questioned the authenticity of the claim itself.


I have no problem with that. Honestly. Given the number of fake hate crimes we see on the reg (hell, we had one with A&M just this year with the kid who planted slurs on his own car), no one should get carte blanche when making such claims, and Charlene/Kevin did so RE: A&M fans erroneously.

quote:

Instead of our community coming together and condemning it


Pretty much everyone did this, though. Most just had the quite understandable caveat that this seemed quite out of character, even for a ticked off TAMU fanbase.

quote:

They weren't interested in finding the perp. 


Again, we didn't know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there WAS a perp. And, again, most condemned it. To the point where even now, a lot of folks outside the TAMU fanbase still think it was an Aggie fan that sent that shite.

quote:

Sumlin has a right to be mad about that one. It was an all time low for Aggie fans online.


Nah. Not at this point.
Posted by Old Sarge
Dean of Admissions, LSU
Member since Jan 2012
55451 posts
Posted on 12/17/20 at 8:08 am to
Everyone can keep hating on him but he’s a very rich man thanks to Aggie, but we got something out of it too

Immediate recognition and respect in the sec for our first miracle season, a heisman trophy and the big money donations that flowed because of all that that got us the top of the world facilities we have now

I have only animosity towards him for 1 thing, UCLA
first pageprev pagePage 2 of 3Next pagelast page

Back to top
logoFollow SECRant for SEC Football News
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook to get the latest updates on SEC Football and Recruiting.

FacebookTwitter