Appreciating Sumlin

Coach Sumlin has been Texas A&M's head coach for 36 games. His record so far is 27-9 (13-9) with bowl wins over two power 5 teams. That's good. But what's more interesting is how his success has not been tied to Kyle Field. Would you believe Kevin Sumlin's record at Kyle Field is actually worse than his road record? It is. Sumlin is 13-5 at home and a solid 14-4 away from the friendly confines of College Station: 10-4 in true road games and 4-0 in neutral site games. An astounding 11 out of Sumlin's 18 games away from Kyle Field have been against Top 25 competition. That's a rough road. It also speaks to the quality of the SEC, particularly the SEC West, whose daunting competition effectively guarantees tough contests on the road every season. Grueling road games are something the SWC and, to a lesser extent the Big 12, did not offer. Sumlin has handled the road admirably, going 7-4 in SEC games, with two wins over Top 5 teams. Last night, it was mentioned that Coach Sumlin already has two road wins over top 5 teams at A&M. In the context of A&M's football history, that's incredible.

So how does Sumlin's performance stack up with past Aggie coaches? How much of their success was tied to playing in front of the 12th Man? First, let's breakdown Coach Sumlin's record:

Kevin Sumlin

True road games against Top 25 teams:  4-4

Kevin Sumlin - road games against Top 25 teams
Year	Result	Opponent	Opponent Rank	Texas A&M	Opponent
2012	Win	Miss State	17	38	13
2012	Win	Alabama	1	29	24
2013	Loss	LSU	18	10	34
2013	Loss	Mizzou	5	21	28
2014	Win	USC	9	52	28
2014	Loss	Miss State	12	31	48
2014	Loss	Bama	7	0	59
2014	Win	Auburn	3	41	38

Neutral site games against Top 25 teams: 3-0

Kevin Sumlin - neutral site games against Top 25 teams
Year	Result	Opponent	Opponent Rank	Texas A&M	Opponent
2012	Win	La Tech	23	59	57
2012	Win	Oklahoma	12	41	13
2013	Win	Duke	22	52	48

Total record in games away from Kyle Field against top  25 competition:  7-4

Best true road win: Beat #1 Alabama 29-24 in 2012.

Best neutral site win: Beat #12 Oklahoma 41-13 in 2012 Cotton Bowl

Now, lets compare that to his predecessors, starting with A&M's all-time winningest coach, R.C. Slocum

R.C. Slocum

Coach Slocum took over for Jackie Sherrill in 1989, below are the games in which A&M left home to face a top 25 opponent in opponent at their house:

R.C. Slocum - road games against Top 25 teams
Year	Result	Opponent	Opponent Rank	Texas A&M	Opponent
1990	Loss	Houston	12	31	36
1990	Loss	Texas	5	27	28
1991	Win	Baylor	16	34	12
1993	Loss	Okalahoma	16	14	44
1995	Loss	Colorado	7	21	29
1997	Win	Colorado	16	16	10
1997	Loss	Kansas State	20	17	36
1999	Loss	Nebraska	9	0	37
2000	Loss	Texas	12	17	43
2001	Loss	Colorado	20	21	31
2001	Loss	Oklahoma	3	10	31
2002	Loss	Texas	10	20	50

It is amazing, but in 14 seasons as the A&M head coach, Coach Slocum only coached 12 true road games against Top 25 teams. Coach Sumlin has already coached in 8 in 2.5 years. R.C's record against top opponents in their house: two wins, ten losses.  The only wins?  Over #16 Baylor in 1991 and over #16 Colorado in 1997.  That's it. That's right, sportsfans, R.C. Slocum never beat a Top 10 team in their building. Never.  Coach Sumlin has already done it twice.

Ok, but what about 1998 KSU? Well, that wasn't a true road game, but lets look at Coach Slocum's neutral site record against top teams.  In neutral site/bowl games against Top 25 teams, RC was a combined 4-9. The best win was obviously KSU in 1998.  The other wins? #13 BYU in 1991, #20 Stanford in 1992, #14 Michigan in 1995.

R.C. Slocum - neutral site games against Top 25 teams
Year	Result	Opponent	Opponent Rank	Texas A&M	Opponent
1989	Loss	Pitt	23	28	31
1990	Win	BYU	13	65	14
1991	Loss	Florida State	5	2	10
1992	Win	Stanford	20	10	7
1992	Loss	Notre Dame	5	3	28
1993	Loss	Notre Dame	4	21	24
1995	Win	Michigan	14	22	20
1997	Loss	Nebraska	2	15	54
1997	Loss	UCLA	5	23	29
1998	Loss	Florida State	2	14	23
1998	Win	Kansas State	2	36	33
1998	Loss	Ohio State	3	14	24
1999	Loss	Penn State	13	0	24

Summary:

True road games against Top 25 teams:  2-10

Neutral site games against Top 25 teams: 4-9

Total record in games away from Kyle Field against top  25 competition: 6-19

Best true road win: Beat #16 Colorado 16-10 in 1997.

Best neutral site win: Beat #2 Kansas State 36-33 in 1998 Big 12 Championship.

Ok, enough dancing on R.C.'s coaching grave. Are your prepared for real horror?

Dennis F***chione

True road games against Top 25 teams:  2-8

Dennis Franchione - road games against Top 25 teams
Year	Result	Opponent	Opponent Rank	Texas A&M	Opponent
2003	Loss	Va Tech	8	19	35
2003	Loss	Nebraska	21	12	48
2003	Loss	Oklahoma	1	0	77
2004	Loss	Utah	20	21	41
2004	Win	Ok State	16	36	30
2004	Loss	Texas	6	13	26
2005	Loss	Texas Tech	16	17	56
2006	Win	Texas	11	12	7
2007	Loss	Oklahoma	5	14	42
2007	Loss	Missouri	7	26	40

Neutral site games against Top 25 teams: 0-2

Dennis Franchione - neutral site games against Top 25 teams
Year	Result	Opponent	Opponent Rank	Texas A&M	Opponent
2004	Loss	Tennessee	15	7	38
2006	Loss	Cal	20	10	45

Total record in games away from Kyle Field against top  25 competition: 2-10

Best road win: Beat #11 Texas 12-7 in 2006

Best neutral site win: None.

Summary: About what you would expect.  After all, the cupboard was bare!  The wins? #16 Oklahoma State in 2004 and #11 Texas in 2006. He wasn't any better in neutral site games, with horrific bowl losses to Tennessee and Cal.

Mike Sherman

True road games against Top 25 teams:  1-4

Mike Sherman - road games against Top 25 teams
Year	Result	Opponent	Opponent Rank	Texas A&M	Opponent
2008	Loss	Ok State	22	28	56
2008	Loss	Texas	2	9	49
2009	Win	Texas Tech	24	52	30
2011	Loss	Oklahoma	7	25	41
2011	Loss	Kansas State	17	50	53

Neutral site games against Top 25 teams: 0-3

Mike Sherman - neutral site games against Top 25 teams
Year	Result	Opponent	Opponent Rank	Texas A&M	Opponent
2010	Loss	Arkansas	11	17	24
2010	Loss	LSU	11	24	41
2011	Loss	Arkansas	18	38	42

Total: 1-7

Best road win: Beat #24 Texas Tech 52-30 in 2009.

Summary: More of the same, if not worse.  Mike Sherman's lone top 25 road victory was over #24 Texas Tech in 2009. He was also 0-3 in neutral site games against Top 25 competition, dropping 2 games to Arkansas along with being blown out by LSU in the 2010 Cotton Bowl.

Yesterday's win over Auburn should really wake A&M fans up to what we have in Coach Sumlin.  Not only does he provide brand visibility, #SWAGGER, and a flash that A&M fans could have scarcely dreamed of in November 2011, but he provides results. More importantly, he provides hope for the future by demonstrating that a KDS coached team has a chance against anyone, no matter where they play.

So get your popcorn ready, Aggies.