Kyle Field once again dominated discussion at the weekly football news conference.
Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin said in his weekly Tuesday news conference that the Aggies will benefit from hosting Alabama at Kyle Field, which has undergone renovations since the two programs last met in College Station during the 2013 season. Sumlin believes Kyle Field, the largest stadium in the Southeastern Conference, is both conducive to disrupting the functionality of opposing teams and ideal for viewers.
“It is louder, it’s considerably louder down there,” Sumlin said. “The fans are tighter to the action. I think the sight lines are better, according to my Dad, so that’s a pretty good deal. It’s definitely a louder stadium and I think it’s a great player experience and it’s also a great fan experience. That’s, I think, what everybody was trying to achieve with the project, and it’s well done.”
Sumlin said the exposure from playing on national television in a prime-time slot puts on full display the quality of football that both teams play.
“That time spot is not split like some other TV stations and programs,” Sumlin said. “That 2:30 spot is all over the world and it’s the marquee game. So, first of all, you like to be in that game. And second of all, you want to play at 2:30 as many times as you can. That means that the game is important and there’s a lot of people watching.”
Having won two Southeastern Conference games, Sumlin believes that the physicality of this team has progressed from what it was at this time one year ago.
“The last two football games we played in were extremely physical, with Arkansas and Mississippi State,” Sumlin said. “We were able to win those games. There were some parts, particularly in the Mississippi State game, that we didn’t do very well and didn’t handle very well, a year ago, from a physical standpoint. And I thought that we handled it a lot better this year… Are we more physical? Yes. Are we better? Yes. How much? I guess we are going to find out Saturday.”
After a Monday full of firings, resignations, and suspensions in college football, Sumlin also addressed the frequent nature of head coaching turnover in the collegiate game Tuesday, touching specifically on the resignation of his colleague and good friend, South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier.
“Things have escalated quickly,” Sumlin said. “Salaries have escalated. Expectations have escalated, and because of that, it’s a short, short rope. And if you’re in this business, you get that. But as coach Spurrier said, ‘Everybody can’t win.’ Everybody wants to win, but everybody can’t. So, because of that, as they say, ‘There will be casualties.’ You know certainly, with social media, with the investment that is made in a lot of programs right now, time is short. It’s very, very competitive at the top and it’s a tough deal.”
