Kevin Sumlin: Texas A&M could have handled Johnny Manziel better

Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin says the school could have done more to help former Aggies quarterback Johnny Manziel with his off-the-field issues.

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During his two-year run with the team, Texas A&M did a fantastic job of helping Johnny Manziel succeed on the football field. Manziel led the school to 20 wins and two bowl championships while also winning the Heisman trophy in 2013.

However, Aggies coach Kevin Sumlin made clear Wednesday in an interview with Fox Sports that the program has some regrets in not doing enough to put Manziel in position to do right off the field.

Sumlin said:

"“I support him, his family supports him, we support the family, Texas A&M does too. Because there’s a lot of things that he has gone through … this is another one of those situations where I think he has obviously decided to take some action and the best thing that we can do — that I can do — is support his action and hope it works out for the best.”"

"“There really hasn’t been anybody like Johnny … I think everybody looks back on [it] and says what they would have done, what should have been done. That’s a heck of a lot easier than dealing with it as it goes on … certainly, there are things that we put in place, that we did with Johnny that we were able to help him, and there are certainly some things we feel like we could have done better."

Manziel’s adviser Brad Beckworth announced on Monday that the quarterback is currently in a treatment facility.

It’s understandable that Sumlin feels he could have done to more to help Manziel live a straight and narrow life. However, it’s clearly not his school’s fault that Manziel has had the issues that he’s had. As Sumlin alluded to, Manziel was an unprecedented figure in college football during his playing days and it surely couldn’t have been easy for the school to handle the quarterback and all that came with the fame and celebrity around him.

Regardless, it appears Manziel is turning a corner, as it was reportedly his idea to enter rehab, and that’s all that really matters at this point.

Source close to Manziel said QB voluntarily entering rehab (his idea), told people close to him he wants to 'figure out his value system'
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) February 2, 2015

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