Former Texas A&M quarterback Kyle Allen shared his thoughts on the faults of the A&M football program in an interview with CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd Tuesday.
The Scottsdale native said the “culture” that was created when Johnny Manziel played for the Aggies carried over after the Heisman winner left, and that it played a role in his own transfer to Houston.
“I think the culture was a big part of it, and I think that stems from Johnny’s era there — the way that they let Johnny and [others] act there,” Allen told Dodd. “They [were able to] do that and still win games because they had Johnny … and five offensive linemen playing in the NFL right now.”
Allen went on to describe the players’ attitudes about obtaining results.
“A lot of people were riding off that, ‘I can do whatever the hell I want and win on Saturday,’” Allen said.
The former No. 1 rated pro-style quarterback said it was a lot harder to grind out results with players who weren’t serious about reaching a common goal.
“When you don’t have players like Johnny and [others] there anymore, you have to really come together as a team and scrap for wins,” Allen said. “We had a lot of people who were talking about the same goal but weren’t all committed and on the same page to get to that goal.”
Allen, who finished with an 8-5 record with the Aggies, went on to say that A&M’s fancy facilities were a good thing to attract players, but at the same time a bad thing for the team’s mindset.
“At the end of the day, football is still football,” Allen said. “Our big player lounge [at A&M], our big scoreboard — it’s a recruiting tool. But when it comes down to it, at some level, it can hurt a team.”
Allen said he felt the youth of the team was negatively affected by receiving so many nice amenities.
“Having all of that at such a young age, we didn’t do much to deserve that. I don’t think I realized it until I got here.”
Allen said the key to winning and being successful in the SEC, especially the SEC West, was having everyone in the locker on the same page.
“Everyone wasn’t in a straight line. We had a ton of talent there. I think that, once you get all the right coaches there and get the vision right, you can do a lot of things.”
