Sumlin, Aggies Start War of Words With LSU at SEC Media Days
By Scotty Nola
The SEC Media Days Coaches sessions are entirely predictable.
Each coach takes his turn at the podium fielding questions from the full contingent of SEC reporters in attendance. The coaches all follow the same script.
They have to talk a lot without saying anything.
They need to be optimistic enough to excite their fans without digging a hole. And they have to decline all the baited questions the reporters throw at them trying to trick them into saying something dumb enough to be newsworthy.
That’s the usual coaches script.
Sep 13, 2014; College Station, TX, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Kevin Sumlin reacts on the sidelines against the Rice Owls during the first quarter at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Then there’s the Kevin Sumlin version.
Sumlin, despite holding an unimpressive 0-3 record against LSU has decided that poaching one of LSU’s coaches was a good first step in manufacturing a rivalry.
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The media helped him, asking, “Did you kind of take the mindset, if we can’t beat LSU and John Chavis, I’ll go hire him away?”
Sumlin obliged by answering, “I didn’t kind of. That’s exactly what I did. There’s really nothing more to the answer than that. That’s true.”
He went on to claim the LSU-Texas A&M, a game many LSU fans don’t look at as anything more than another SEC matchup, is more of a traditional rivalry, saying, “When I walk in the stadium, they don’t seem pretty happy about me walking in there in the first place. I don’t know if it can get any more spicier than it is now. It’s been a game that ten years ago was still a really, really big football game with Texas A&M and LSU.”
Coach Sumlin needs to sell tickets, and trying to fire up a cross border rivalry to replace the one A&M lost with Texas when they moved into the SEC is understandable.
I’m not quite sure exactly what Texas A&M player Germain Ifedi was thinking with his comments on Texas A&M getting Coach John Chavis from LSU. Here is his quote in full:
“Having played against their defense the last two years and not finding too much success … you know their defense didn’t do anything spectacular, didn’t have the greatest players in the world,” Ifedi said. “They just always had the right answers for what you were doing.”
“When I heard he (Chavis) was coming to A&M I was excited. I said this is a big deal. He’s proven he can do more with less and even more with more. He’s proven he’s a great coordinator over the years and he doesn’t need high-level players, which now we have high-level players on defense. It’s almost scary what he’s going to be able to do with them.”
OK. So Chavis didn’t have much talent on defense at LSU the last couple of years.
Right.
Sep 27, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Texas A&M Aggies tackle Germain Ifedi (74) in action against the Arkansas Razorbacks at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
There’s a lot wrong with that. Outside of the fact that your defensive coordinator has a pretty major impact on recruiting and he is now recruiting for you, just what team does Germain Ifedi think he was getting beat by?
Over the last 3 seasons, the ones in which LSU beat Texas A&M three straight times 15 players have been drafted off of LSU’s defense by NFL teams. That isn’t counting the undrafted LSU players who have made NFL rosters over that stretch.
There is also a lot of talent in house on LSU’s defense this year.
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Jalen Mills and Kendell Beckwirh have both been named to the Bednarik Award preseason watchlist.
The Bednarik Award is for the best defensive player in college football, Kendell Beckwith is also on the Butkus Award watchlist for the best college Linebacker.
Tra’Davious White has been named on the Jim Thorpe Award watchlist for the nations best collegiate defensive back.
Germain Ifedi might not think Chavis had much talent to work with at LSU but talent has never been an issue with this program, even going back to the bad old Gerry Dinardo days.
He will get to see that talent on display up close and personal again this fall, and LSU fans are already hoping he’ll have an opportunity to see the Tigers push Kevin Sumlin coached Aggies teams to 0-4 against their new border rival………