Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin will reportedly be fired following the Aggies’ final game Saturday at LSU — regardless of the outcome.
The news was first reported by the Houston Chronicle.
With a win in Baton Rouge this weekend, Texas A&M could improve to 8-4 on the season. But, athletics director Scott Woodward has made it clear that the record is not good enough.
Texas A&M AD Scott Woodward didn’t mince words on Finebaum today. “Coach knows he has to win and he has to win this year.” #12thMan pic.twitter.com/Qopj1oV1rB
— Colin Deaver (@KAGS_Colin) May 30, 2017
Sumlin was hired as head football coach by Texas A&M in 2012, after being lured away from the same position with the University of Houston. History will remember Sumlin’s first season as his most successful in College Station. The 2012 Aggies were led by eventual Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Johnny Manziel. That year, the team finished 11-2 — No. 5 in the AP poll — capping it off with a big Cotton Bowl victory over Oklahoma.
Since the Cotton Bowl win, Sumlin’s teams have finished 9-4, 8-5, 8-5, 8-5, and currently, 7-4. Those records would usually be good enough to earn job security, but Texas A&M is not a typical college football program.
According to a study by USA Today, Texas A&M brings in more revenue from its football program than any other institution in the country — including the University of Texas. Add in a nearly $500 million recent renovation project of Kyle Field, along with pressure from boosters and fans, job security for football coaches doesn’t really exist.
So, who could replace Sumlin? Right now, it looks like the overwhelming favorite to become the next Texas A&M football coach is Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher. He and current A&M AD Scott Woodyard worked together at LSU in the early 2000s. Fisher was LSU’s defensive coordinator under Nick Saban at the time, while Woodyard worked as a liaison between the university and the athletic department.
The bar has been set very high in Aggieland. We’ll see if Sumlin’s replacement can ever meet those Texas-sized expectations.