Two weeks after Texas A&M closed the 2015 regular season with a loss to LSU — dropping their record to 8-4 and sending them to a mid-level bowl game — reports said chancellor John Sharp was "looking into the possibility of terminating" the contract of fourth-year head coach Kevin Sumlin.
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Sharp called the story a "fairy tale" and "completely false." Two years later, he's still facing non-stop questions about the struggling football program, and this week punted on a question about Sumlin's future.
Sharp was named chancellor in January 2011, about one year before the Aggies fired then-head coach Mike Sherman and hired Sumlin away from Houston. Following an 11-2 first season with a 6-2 SEC record, Sumlin went 33-19 overall and 15-17 in the SEC from 2013-16. Then came this year's debacle at UCLA and underwhelming performances against Nicholls and UL-Lafayette.
When asked about Sumlin's job security, he said, "I'm not the athletics director."
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He's right; Scott Woodward is their athletics director. However, Sharp undoubtedly has some say in the matter and knows if Woodward and key Texas A&M stakeholders want, or are considering, a change.
Here was the exchange, courtesy of The Texas Tribune:
"Is Kevin Sumlin's job safe?"
John Sharp, TAMU chancellor: "I'm not the athletic director." #gigem #TAMU pic.twitter.com/ElmLtKzBoE— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) September 29, 2017
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