Coach Sumlin, coordinators Jake Spavital and Mark Snyder, and select players met with the media Tuesday at the Aggies' weekly football press conference inside Kyle Field.
Select quotes are posted below.
Can you share with us any specific changes, practice, scheme, anything made during this week?
“Last week I laid out what our practice plan and was our intent was. What the philosophy was of last week, which was about us. It's back to the game plan this week. There have been guys who accepted the challenge. As we said, guys who wanted to talk about and felt like they deserved to play, we gave them the opportunities last week to demonstrate where they were. And, guys currently playing the opportunities to hang on to where they are. We'll give some of these guys a chance to really demonstrate where they are with the game plan and how they can execute it. Whoever runs out there Saturday is going to run out there at 11:01. I think our guys understand that they have had the opportunity to prove to us…and let me say this. We just don't change for change sake. We give guys the opportunity in practice to demonstrate to coaches and to the other players that they understand what we're trying to do, what we're doing, and (whether they) are proficient at what we're doing. By the same token, you have the same opportunity to demonstrate you can't do that. The more that you're able to do that the better your opportunity is to play. That's where we are right now. That hasn't changed from last Tuesday when I talked. That was the emphasis last week. This week we're on to game-planning for Monroe.
Have you seen so far what you wanted to see from the entire group as you challenged them last week?
“Yeah. I think a lot of times things get generalized. Well, this team is that. This team is this. I don't see that. I see a team where, with the three challenges and phases I brought up last week, you've got certain players not playing smart, certain ones not playing hard, and certain ones not playing physical. When you have that it's not a 'general' thing. We didn't have 40 or 50 guys in one category. So you approach that as a team and address that. Our goal in the bye week was to address as many things as we could as a program. You have more time at the end of the year to go through everything with a fine comb. When you're in the middle of the season, particularly week 8 or 9…what I try and do is address as many things as I can possibly address with the intent to win the next week, and give our guys and our team the best chance to win schematically and personnel wise. That's what you do in the middle of the year. At the end of the year, that becomes a different evaluation.”
Did you try to have a special effort to be more physical last week with more full-pad practices?
“We took some time off at the beginning of the week. We did a few things in full pads, yeah. And we needed that.”
Is Kenny Hill still your starter, and how has he responded to the adversity of the last few weeks?
“They've both gotten reps over the last week and will both continue to get reps. Nothing has changed from last Tuesday. Just like every other position out there, we're playing football. After what's happened, there's really nothing off the table at that point. It gets back to what I said earlier, change for change's sake is impractical. What you have to do is have a reason for change. Is that reason your ability to be efficient and prove to people that you can handle what's going on? Or, disprove that you're ready to play in those practice situations? So credibility amongst the players and coaching staff is at a premium right now, particularly with where we are.”
Can you talk about the overall health of your team going into this week?
“Looking back and evaluating where we were, I probably underestimated the 8-game stretch and how we handled it. We didn't handle it the right way. We had a substantial amount of guys banged up or beat up, and I would say mentally tired. That's something we tried to address last week. I think the bye week came at a great time for us. Usually when you lose, particularly the way we did, the bye week is the worst thing that can happen. But in this situation it was much needed. It gave us an opportunity to look within, heal up as much mentally as physically. It's never a good time in any program for a loss like that. But there are good times for bye weeks. And our bye week came at the right time for us. How we've taken advantage of it from a practice standpoint, I think we've been smart and we've gotten done what we needed to get done from a physical standpoint. But we've also been able to take the pressure off our guys from a mental perspective. I liked our attitude coming out for practice yesterday. The key is going to be sustaining. Anyone can do something once. Now what? Are we going back to where we were over the last 3 or 4 weeks? Or are we going back to the team we used to be? Based on how we practiced yesterday, I would say the latter would be the case.”
Could you talk more about not handling the eight straight games as well as you thought?
“I think the 8-game stretch took a bigger toll than we thought. I probably didn't handle that properly, particularly with the three hardest coming at the end of that stretch. Our situation was a little bit different than most in the country (no bye week). That's not an excuse, that's something we needed to manage better. When you go through something like we went through, for some people it's catastrophic if it continues. Fortunately that's not who we are and who we've been. For me it starts with me. What can you do better in those situations, and if it's presented a second time what are you going to do about it? You have to recognize that, not as an excuse, but something that happened and where do we go from here. That's what last week was about, from a physical and a mental standpoint, the approach from here on out for the rest of the year.”
Can you break down your opponent this weekend in ULM?
“Coach (Todd) Berry has done a great job wherever he's been. They have a number of players from the state of Texas, which means they'll have a lot of guys that have been to Kyle Field and grown up knowing a lot about Texas A&M. They will be excited to play. They will have friends and family here. They've played two other SEC schools (LSU and Kentucky) so they won't be intimidated. I saw an interesting stat, we talk about the number of sacks we have…well, they have more than we do. We will have to protect the passer and do some things to create things offensively. They run a 3-3 stack, which is a lot different look than you (usually) see, and have a blitzing style that creates negative yardage plays. From that standpoint they've done a nice job creating negative plays defensively and they move the ball offensively well enough. They have an outstanding kicker. They won't be intimidated coming in here. They'll be excited Saturday.”
You can learn a lot about individuals when a team is struggling…have any individuals stepped up that you have noticed? Maybe some leaders that previously haven't been vocal?
“That's an interesting question. Last week, I don't know that's something we were looking for. Last week, we were looking for improvement across the board. Times like this, it's not time to talk, I'll just put it that way. It's not time to have team meetings, or guys yelling and screaming, all that. What it's time for is action. That was really the message last week. If that's going on behind the scenes, that's great. But in this business what pays off is results.”
The team will honor the 1939 national champions this weekend…how important is it for your players to have a good sense of the history of a program?
“It is good. Our guys here have a real sense of the history of the program. There's an old saying. You should never ever confuse history for tradition, or vice versa. What is that? History is playing football. Tradition are things that surround the football program, like Midnight Yell, the 12th Man. Winning is part of tradition. Those two things are very, very different. We spend time with our players talking about history and trying to be part of both. There's a sign in there (Bright Complex) that says 'Leave your jersey in a better place'. You owe it as an Aggie to leave your jersey in a better place for the next guy to wear. That's part of the history that we want our players to be a part of, but also it's a respect to the people who came before you. Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of national championships. Once of the great things about being able to respect that history is the national championship team that we have, that we'll pay honor to in an anniversary edition. That's a big deal to our players but it's also a big deal to them to try and be a part of that history and tradition, because we haven't had a lot of 10- or 11-win seasons. It gives our guys also an opportunity to be a part of those types of things. I think the first year we were here, that was one of 4 or 5 teams to win 11 games. That was a big deal and that's a big deal to these guys currently. But it's also a big deal to look back at the teams and the guys that played here that were successful, and have a respect for how they played the game, who they were and what they accomplished here. Particularly on a Kyle Field that's changing. Like anyone would say in 1939, no one would ever imagine that Kyle Field would look like it does now or how it will next year. You have to have a healthy respect for that and our guys do.”
A couple times over the years you've mentioned you get unsolicited advice at the gas station or grocery store. Have you gotten any over the last few weeks?
“No one talks to me right now (laughter). I haven't got a lot of 'number one' signals though. That's when it gets real bad (laughing).”