Sumlin 'thankful' Texas A&M squashed white nationalist rally

Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin said Saturday he's thankful to the university's top leaders for shutting down a white nationalist rally scheduled to take place Monday on campus.

"I'm really proud of (the school's decision)," Sumlin told reporters, according to ESPN. "I was thankful and very, very proud of Chancellor Sharp and our president to put an end to it."

The rally was organized by former student Preston Wiginton, who said he was inspired by the recent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Wiginton had invited well-known white nationalist Richard Spencer to speak at the event.

"That's (a time) for leadership to come to the front, and our leadership did that," Sumlin said. "We talked about it as a team, too, and our appreciation for our leadership to step in in this situation. It's big for the players, big for our coaching staff, it's big for everybody."

Sumlin and the Aggies face UCLA to open the season Sept. 3.