Texas A&M Aggies

We're in the dog days of the offseason, where every little comment or development gets overanalyzed or takes on a life of its own. So why not overanalyze some comments Texas A&M athletic director Eric Hyman made in jest at the Brazos County A&M Club Coach's Night, an alumni event on Thursday night on campus? He made a joke that went like this, according to the San Antonio Express-News: “What do the moon and Texas A&M have in common? They both control the Tide.”

TideNation's Alex Scarborough: First of all, I'm a little disappointed in Hyman for not getting more creative with his joke. It's good for a chuckle, I suppose, but a half-hearted one at that. There's better material out there to draw on, if you ask me. He could have at least incorporated Nick Saban being the devil into it, like everyone else has done this offseason.

That brings me to my next point: Why even make the joke at all? I'm sure Kevin Sumlin really appreciated him providing the bulletin board material because, you know, Alabama certainly needed fuel to add to its fire. The motivation for revenge might not have been enough. Remember the "never again" poster from Alabama's heartbreaking loss to Cam Newton and the Auburn Tigers in 2010? The Tide have dominated the last two Iron Bowl contests, winning both by a combined score of 91-14. I've got to believe there's a similar poster being constructed now for Texas A&M with Hyman's quote as its centerpiece.

But Sam, when we look at last year's game and Hyman's analysis of the Aggies being able to "control the Tide," do you think there's some truth in it? I look back at the first quarter and agree, but after that I'm not so sure.

GigEmNation's Sam Khan: I think Sumlin agrees with you, even if just a little bit, since he said, "No pressure, Eric. Thank you," when he took the podium. You're right in that the Crimson Tide don't need any additional motivation but I wouldn't overestimate how much that matters. Sumlin is a pretty good motivator himself and I'm sure he'll play up the fact that the whole world expects the Tide to exact revenge on Sept. 14.

As for "controlling the Tide," I do think there's some truth in Hyman's quote. Did the Aggies dominate the game from start to finish? No. Against a team as talented and as deep as Alabama, that's nearly impossible to do. But the Aggies took it to Alabama as well as anybody else has in quite some time with the strong first quarter and a huge last scoring drive. Defensively, the Aggies were solid and opportunistic, coming up with some huge turnovers. Yes, the Tide were one play away from winning, should Deshazor Everett not pull off the interception on fourth-and-goal, but the Aggies win was far from luck or anything of the like.

Here's my question for you, Alex, when it comes to the Crimson Tide. Everyone talks about how Saban and Co. have all offseason to prepare for Johnny Manziel. But it stands to reason that Manziel will improve from Year 1 to Year 2. My question is, how much better prepared are the Crimson Tide going to be for the Aggies' offensive tempo, which seemed to give them significant trouble? Do they face anybody else that plays at that pace?

Scarborough: Therein lies the rub, Sam. You're right about Alabama having all offseason to prepare for what Manziel and the different Texas A&M offensive weapons can do, but until it learns to better handle the uptempo style of play itself, it's a major question mark whether the Tide can consistently handle offenses like the Aggies. After all, Sumlin won't be alone in running the fast-paced spread against Alabama. Virginia Tech will likely push the pace in the season-opener and Ole Miss will definitely look to force the defense's hand in Week 4. Kentucky, Tennessee and Auburn will all do the same later on in the schedule as well.

There's no doubt, though, that the biggest challenge to Alabama's defense will be Texas A&M. Even with Luke Joeckel no longer protecting Manziel's blindside and Kliff Kingsbury no longer calling plays, it's hard to imagine the Aggies offense being anything other than dangerous. And it all comes back to what Manziel can do with his feet. Saban and defensive coordinator Kirby Smart can use every minute of the offseason studying film to better prepare for the Aggies, but there is almost no way to stop what Manziel does best: improvise. All Alabama can hope to do is preach containment up front and pray that someone can wrap up the speedy quarterback when the time comes.

That brings me to my final question, Sam: In light of the recent success of the two programs and the buzz suddenly growing around the rematch thanks to Hyman's comments, do you see Alabama-Texas A&M becoming the best rivalry in the SEC West over the next few seasons? As long as Sumlin is around, I imagine Aggies fans are confident in the direction of the program and its ability to compete with the likes of Alabama.

Khan: I think you answered the last question with six key words: "As long as Sumlin is around." The program is moving upward right now and as long as he's in the captain's chair, I think that will continue. Will it become the best rivalry in the SEC West? Perhaps. I think LSU vs. Texas A&M has great rivalry potential also and Alabama-LSU is probably the best one currently going. I think in order for A&M-Bama to be considered "the best," the Aggies will have to pass LSU, which they haven't done yet. The Aggies lost to LSU last year and finished tied with them in the standings. Bama-LSU games have had a national title feel to them; the Aggies will have to legitimately get into the BCS title game chase for that to start happening against Bama. But there's no doubt that by beating the Tide last year, the Aggies have the Crimson Tide's attention.

That brings me to my last question for you: How much do you think Alabama and its fans care about A, what Hyman said; and B, what the Aggies are doing between now and Sept. 14. The Crimson Tide won the national championship. Are the Aggies really that big of a deal to Bama?

Scarborough: To answer your second question first, everything that happens in the SEC is a big deal to Alabama fans. You might think that not much gets to Tide fans these days, but you'd be wrong. Apathy is not something that sits well in these parts. It's partly the environment in the state, with no professional sports franchises to distract the attention away from college football,and partly the attitude Saban has fostered in these parts where even the most minute of details matter. There's interest in anything even tangentially connected to Alabama, even something as innocuous as an athletic director's comment to what amounts to a semi-private gathering of alumni.

That brings me back to whether Alabama fans care about what Hyman said. They most certainly do. The sting of that defeat still doesn't sit well with the Crimson Tide faithful, even though a national championship came after. But the part that I think bothers fans most is the manner in which he said it. Don't tell me Hyman didn't know he would be quoted or that he didn't know exactly what he was saying. He's been doing the job long enough to know a comment like that would come out.

But at the end of the day, as you've said, Sam, this all boils down to a symptom of the offseason where even comments made in jest are overanalyzed. Hyman would probably like to have what he said back, and Sumlin would, too, but overall it was harmless and only serves to make a budding rivalry just a little more entertaining. And as fans of college football, what's really so wrong about that?

A year ago, we didn't know what to expect from Kevin Sumlin or his Texas A&M Aggies. With Sumlin coming from Houston and A&M losing all that talent, both really were enigmas to the rest of the college football world.

Months later, they proved to be two of the hottest things associated with the sport. Sumlin helped lead the Aggies to a stunning 11-2 season and watched as his quarterback -- Johnny Manziel -- became the first freshman to ever win the Heisman Trophy.

So much for the Aggies not being ready for life in the SEC.

But with that success has come more attention thrown the Aggies' way, especially Sumlin. He told the San Antonio Express-News on Wednesday that he's had opportunities to take his coaching talents to the NFL. The article even states that Sumlin was offered by the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles and Auburn after the stellar season he and his Aggies had.

However, Sumlin is still in College Station, and it doesn't sound like he's leaving anytime soon.

"Maybe later — some time later," Sumlin said of the chances on him heading for the NFL. "But it won't be anytime soon. My family likes living here and I like living here. Heck, we just got here. People ask me to respond to the (NFL talk), and I say, 'You've got to be kidding me.' Because I remember what was being said at this time a year ago.

"I didn't really respond to that last year, and there's no reason to respond to this now."

One reason Sumlin isn't looking to skip town is that he isn't quite satisfied with the job he's done with the Aggies. Sure, last year was a special season for the program, but Texas A&M was still behind Alabama and LSU in the SEC Western Division.

All that razzle-dazzle for third place.

This program has far more than third place on its mind.

It would have been easy for Sumlin to bolt for the NFL or a more high-profile college job, but he decided to stick with the Aggies. In fact, he probably didn't decide anything. He knew where he wanted to be.

Sumlin's name will continue to come up in NFL circles, but he has unfinished business to take care of at A&M.

The picture cleared up just a little bit for Kohl Stewart (Houston/St. Pius X) on Thursday.

The 2013 ESPN 150 quarterback and highly-regarded high school pitching prospect, who signed with Texas A&M to play football, was chosen fourth overall in the first round of the 2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Minnesota Twins on Thursday, setting the stage for a life-altering decision.

Stewart, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound righthander, signed a national letter of intent with the Aggies' football team on Feb. 6, now must decide whether to join Texas A&M or forego college ball in order to pursue professional baseball.

His pitching repertoire, which includes a fastball that rises into the mid-90 mph range, has made him a top baseball draft prospect for more than a year. On the football field, he was the nation's sixth-ranked pocket passer, a four-star prospect who was No. 96 overall in the ESPN 150.

ESPN baseball scouts say Stewart "has four legitimate pitches with an athletic, strong build and the potential for two grade-70s offerings on the 20-80 scouting scale. His fastball is consistently 92-94, touching 97, with good downhill plane."

During a press conference on national signing day in February, Aggies head coach Kevin Sumlin stated that he and Stewart already had candid conversations about his future.

"Our conversations with him have been that we'd love to have him, he wants to come here," Sumlin said. "But also, there's nothing wrong with being Brandon Weeden. I told him if he wants to go play, go play. We'll still have a place for you when you're 25. That's worked out for a lot of people too. He understood that."

The deadline for 2013 draft picks to sign with the teams the have chosen them is 5 p.m. eastern time on July 12.

Edward Aschoff speaks with Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin.