Epic collapse to UCLA stokes fire burning beneath Sumlin's hot seat
What kind of a difference can a single half of football make? In Kevin Sumlin's case, it could mean his job in the long run.
When Texas A&M took a 38-10 lead into the break against UCLA on Sunday night, it's hard to imagine Aggies fans were thinking anything but how Sumlin was able to bounce back from countless criticism to start another year off on the right foot.
Flash forward to postgame, and it's hard to imagine Aggies fans thinking anything but how the university can let Sumlin's reign can continue a day longer.
Following up a season in which the Aggies blew a 7-1 start to finish 8-5, Sunday's defeat is even more ammunition to support the argument that Sumlin just can't get it done down the stretch. Since his debut 11-2 season with the Aggies in 2012, the program has ridden a downward trend in the win column and has finished no greater than fourth in its division.
Simply put, Texas A&M isn't going in the direction it needs, and losing to UCLA in the fashion it did on Sunday may finally be a wake-up call.
It's both a premature and knee-jerk reaction to say Sumlin will, or should lose his job prior to this coming weekend, but it certainly does him no favors. Any future losses will only be magnified by the shocking upset to begin the season that put not just Sumlin, but the entire program behind the eight-ball to begin 2017.
If Sumlin's coaching seat was hot prior to Sunday's epic collapse, it may now be surrounded by magma.