Wednesday at SEC Football Media Days
The hottest seat among Southeastern Conference football coaches most assuredly belongs to Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin.
Sumlin’s first Aggies team with Heisman Trophy quarterback Johnny Manziel is his only one to win double-digit games and have a winning conference record. So, there have been no 10-win campaigns and no winning conference records since 2012.
Texas A&M Athletic Director Scott Woodward has already publicly stated that Sumlin must win and win now.
“I’ve done this a long time, about 30 years,” said Sumlin at SEC Football Media Days on Wednesday in Hoover (Ala.). “How I approach my job, whether it’s anything written or anything said, there’s nobody who puts any more pressure on me than Kevin Sumlin.
“I came here to win a championship. We haven’t done that yet. That being said, we’ve won more game than any Texas A&M teams in the last 20 years. Are we better at Texas A&M now than when we got here? You bet. Is it where we want it to be? No. Nobody wants to win more than me.”
Sumlin will attempt to save his job with a new quarterback – yet to be determined. The candidates are redshirt freshman Nick Starkel, true freshman Kellen Mond and senor Jake Hubenak. The Aggies do return a 1,000-yard rusher in Trayveon Williams and a 900-yard receiver in Christian Kirk.
The Texas A&M defense has improved in former LSU assistant John Chavis’ two years as coordinator. But, the defense is far from a championship level. Opposing teams averaged 25 points and 442 yards per game in 2016. In each of the Aggies’ five defeats last season, they gave up at least 29 points per game.
“My job is to fix it,” Sumlin said. “It’s not about talking about it. The biggest sign on our building says ‘no excuses.’ It’s our job to get it fixed and that’s what we’re doing.”
ALABAMA
Alabama coach Nick Saban addressed the prospects for his 2017 team in a rather blasé manner. On one hand, Saban said this Crimson Tide squad will be the youngest in five seasons. On the other hand, he also mentioned that for the first time in four years he will have a returning starting quarterback.
Alabama is still the overwhelming choice to win its fourth straight SEC championship even though there are only ten returning starters other than quarterback Jalen Hurts. Many of those returnees are the best in the SEC – wide receiver Calvin Ridley, nose tackle De’Ron Payne and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
Saban refused to accept the public notion that the SEC has become a one-team league – the one which resides in Tuscaloosa.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for a number of teams in our league,” Saban said. “There is a lot of parity in our league. The SEC is very challenging from a consistency standpoint. This is one of the youngest teams we’ve ever had. It will be a challenge to maintain our standard, especially on defense.”
The Crimson Tide, which opens its season against Florida State, is entering the year coming off a loss to Clemson in the national championship game. The Tigers scored a touchdown with one second remaining to defeat Alabama 35-31. That defeat is still on the mind of the master psychologist.
“You try to prepare the same way after a loss,” Saban said. “There is the self-assessment as to what you have to do to get better. When you lose, the mindset is more willing to change.“
Everybody is hurt when they lose, particularly like we did last year on the last play of the game. We weren’t able to finish the (Clemson) game like we needed to. Hopefully, we won’ waste a failure.”
KENTUCKY
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops talks like a person ready for his team to take the next step. The Wildcats rebounded from a 0-2 start to win seven of their next ten games and reach the TaxSlayer Bowl. Kentucky returns 17 starters from a team which went 4-4 in the SEC.
“The maturity level of our team is getting better,” Stoops said. “They can handle more. The biggest thing with our program is consistency, our attention to detail. Our players are doing that. We’re ready to take it to the next level. We’re getting in position to compete for the East.”
The Wildcats offense came alive last season with Stephen Johnson as the quarterback. Johnson replaced Drew Barker when he was injured in the second game of the season – a 45-7 loss at Florida. Johnson certainly has room for improvement. He completed only 55 percent of his passes with 13 touchdowns.
“I wouldn’t use the word ‘surprised’ about what Stephen did,” Stoops said. “I would use the word ‘pleased’ with his progress. Stephen got thrown in the fire at Florida. The thing about Stephen is he has great demeanor. He is never too high, never too low. He’s constantly trying to learn and get better.”
Kentucky lost a 1,000-yard rusher in Stanley Williams, but return a 1,000-yard rusher in Benny Snell. The Wildcats are not going to move up the standings unless their defense improves. Nine starters are back, but the defense allowed eight teams to score at least 30 points last season.
“It’s really nice to come in here, year five, and build with the positive momentum we had a year ago,” Stoops said. “We are not concerned about the rest of the league. The league’s not backing up. We’re certainly not backing up. We must stay consistent, stay hungry. It’s all about connecting the dots.”
MISSOURI
Last season was especially tough on Missouri head coach Barry Odom. A former defensive coordinator, Odom watched the Tigers have a horrendous year on defense. Opposing teams averaged 480 yards and 32 points per game against Missouri.
After winning back-to-back Eastern Division championships, the Tigers have won just three SEC games the past two years – one under Gary Pinkel and one under Odom. Missouri averaged 500 yards per game in 2016, but that production didn’t translate into victories.
“We were not good enough on defense last year and that’s been talked about enough,” Odom said. “We have five guys back on defense who played a lot last year. I like how they have a chip on their shoulder after not playing as well as they should.
“The things we did at the end of the year were not good enough. We are building a defense this year. We are putting guys in position where they can play fast. Our defensive line with (former LSU assistant) Brick Haley as coach has a chance to play aggressive and fast.”
Missouri returns ten offensive starters – including a 1,000-yard rusher, a 3,000-yard passer and a 1,000-yard receiver. Those three individuals are sophomore Damarea Crockett, junior Drew Lock and senior J’Mon Moore. Lock is the key for a Tigers offense which likes to play at a very quick tempo.
“Drew wasn’t ready to play as a freshman,” Odom said. “He had to learn to read defenses and to get us out of bad situations. He has grown in those areas so much. The way we play, he has to be right. If he’s wrong, it can be a disaster. We must get the ten (returning) starters to play better than last year.”