Texas A&M's Sumlin: 'People don't think we're worth a damn'

Quarterback transfers, coaching staff changes, off-field controversies - they're all part of the "gig" for Kevin Sumlin, who despite Texas A&M's recent woes is confident the Aggies will "gig 'em" once again in 2016.

"We've got a real good chemistry right now on this football team," Sumlin said Thursday at a scholarship fundraiser, according to Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle. "I tell the team all the time, 'Hey, don't listen to the noise or don't listen to this or that,' but it's hard not to hear it."

Texas A&M, once thought to be the next powerhouse program in the SEC, is coming off back-to-back, disappointing eight-win seasons, and have fallen down the conference ladder as a result.

The stumbles on the field have been well documented, but Texas A&M's missteps off the field this offseason have been just as jarring: two quarterbacks (Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray) transferred out of the program while one (Trevor Knight) transferred in, the team changed offensive coordinators, and an assistant coach had to be reprimanded after tweeting a decommitted recruit about "loyalty."

Add to all that, the rumors Sumlin will be coaching for his job in 2016 and Texas A&M looks on the surface to be a shell of its former self.

"A lot of people don't think we're very good. A lot of people think this organization is in disarray," said Sumlin, who immediately refuted such a notion.

"It's far from it. As a matter of fact, it's in pretty good shape right now. I like where we are and I like our attitude, and I like the fact that people don't think we're worth a damn. That's all right with me. We're going to be all right."

Texas A&M, which hasn't improved its record in any season since Sumlin's first campaign in 2012, opens its season against UCLA.