After six years at the helm, Kevin Sumlin has been dismissed as head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies.
The Texas A&M Aggies are the latest SEC team to enter the coaching carousel after dismissing longtime head coach Kevin Sumlin on Sunday.
Sumlin was reportedly informed he would be fired earlier in the week no matter the result of Saturday’s game, and was indeed dismissed following a 45-21 loss to the LSU Tigers, Texas A&M’s seventh straight defeat against the Bayou Bengals. The loss drops Sumlin’s record at Texas A&M to 51-26, including a disappointing 7-5 mark this season.
While that’s not a terrible overall record as a new team in the difficult SEC West, Sumlin’s program was heading in the wrong direction in recent years. The Aggies haven’t won more than eight games since Johnny Manziel left in 2013 while struggling against better SEC competition, and Sumlin’s dismissal felt inevitable after a 34-point collapse against UCLA to open the season.
After leading Houston to a 12-1 campaign in 2011, Sumlin made the jump to Texas A&M and found immediate success. The Aggies went 11-2 and won the Cotton Bowl in Sumlin’s debut for their best season in 15 years, and turned in a solid 9-4 record the next season.
That was much more a function of Manziel than Sumlin, as Texas A&M has gone 32-20 since despite a number of talented recruiting classes. Quarterback drama that caused signal callers like Kenny Hill, Kyler Murray and Kyle Allen to transfer didn’t help, as Sumlin’s offenses have been steadily declining.
The Aggies will now enter a crowded coaching carousel that includes Tennessee and Florida from the SEC ranks alone, plus Nebraska after Mike Riley was also fired on Saturday. With the UCLA Bruins making the first major hire in Chip Kelly, the pressure will be on all four high-profile programs to make a move quickly.
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Top candidates for the Texas A&M job include SMU’s Chad Morris, Troy’s Neal Brown and Iowa State’s Matt Campbell. The Aggies will undoubtedly try for a home run hire like Jimbo Fisher or Justin Fuente, but convincing either to leave their current positions might be difficult.
Sumlin’s buyout is around $10 million, so Texas A&M is going to pay a hefty price to move in a different direction.