Members of Texas A&M’s coaching staff met with the media Tuesday to reflect on the current state of the program following Saturday’s 59-point loss at Alabama, a low point during Kevin Sumlin’s three-year tenure in College Station:
Head coach Kevin Sumlin
On team not giving effort: “You’ve got two factors. It’s amplified by the fact the teams we’ve played are really good, not just ok. Saturday is a situation where it’s obvious. Just because you lose, doesn’t mean you didn’t play hard. Just because you lose, doesn’t always mean your plan wasn’t good. Sometimes, people are better than you and you can live with that. But how you lose becomes important to me and how we’ve lost the last couple weeks hasn’t been our M.O. around here.”
Personnel changes: “I don’t think there’s anything off the table from a position standpoint. Something like what happened Saturday is an eye opener and should be an eye opener, not just to coaches and fans, but to players too, so we’re evaluating that situation.”
On staff changes: “There’s nobody who is working harder at coaching technique and game planning than our guys in this building. We’ve got a lot of football to play. We’ve got to get the right pieces to the puzzle on the field and I’ve said that. That starts with me. There’s a lot of things that need to be fixed and it’s not one player or one coach.”
Offensive line deficiencies: “I think we’re seeing some new schemes. I’m seeing some things we hadn’t seen before coming off a similar game plan from earlier this year. When you put something on tape, you’re either sending an invitation or you’re sending a message. And I think we invited some similar schemes that we’ve had problems with … with line stunts and movement, and blocking movement and twists.
Defensive coordinator Mark Snyder
Players quitting vs. Alabama: “I don’t think they quit at all if you go back and watch the film. Tackling and third downs, there was the key to the game for us on defense. To be honest with you, (Alabama) had something to do with that. They’re pretty good.”
How much do you tackle during game weeks: “The rules have changed so much. The number of days you’re allowed to tackle, where you can a hit quarterback … they’ve changed a little bit. We try to tackle as much as we can. Again, there’s that fine line of not getting your guys banged up and getting to Saturday. That’s the hard part.”
Priority list beyond tackling: “We’ve got to get back to being who we were. We weren’t up to standard (at Miss. St.) and this week. We played pretty decent against Ole Miss and held our own against Arkansas. This week, we ran into a buzzsaw, big time.”
Offensive coordinator Jake Spavital
Key to finding a run game: “That’s the first thing that we emphasize in games, establishing the run game. Going into the Alabama game, we tried getting guys in better position to make better blocks. When it comes down to it, there’s a physicality standpoint and we’ve backed down from that the last few weeks.”
Kenny Hill’s attitude: “Obviously, he’s frustrated. I’ve always said he tries not to show emotion, but he does have a lot of emotion. Where Kenny is right now is that he’s eager to get back to work and fix what’s wrong. We know what we’re capable of doing … but we’re back to the drawing board.”
Possible change at quarterback: “I’m going to open up every position this week and I want to find 11 guys who want to go out there and fight and be physical and want to play. This week we’re going to have a lot of discussions and see who are the best 11 players who is going to go out there and compete for us.”
