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Texas A&M Head Coach Kevin Sumlin took the stage at SEC Media Days Tuesday morning to discuss the Aggies. Media Days in the SEC are an entirely different animal, with over 1,000 credentialed media including 30 radio stations convening in Hoover, Ala., for four days. Here is what stood out about the Aggies from an ASU perspective.
1. The Aggies are not preparing for ASU quite yet
Sumlin talked about ASU in the opening of his 25-minute news conference and was asked specifically about the Sun Devils towards the end of his time. Sumlin said that ASU will be a top-20 preseason team and the Aggies will find out how good they are quickly.
When asked specifically about the preparations for the Sun Devils, Sumlin said flat out the Aggies are not concerned with ASU as of now. Texas A&M is focusing on itself during the final few weeks of summer and the first few weeks in August. Sumlin said that A&M will begin preparing for the Sun Devils about two weeks before their Sept. 5 meeting.
2. The Aggies were young last year
Perhaps the overall theme of Sumlin's press conference was the youth that A&M played with last season. Sumlin said several times that in their bowl game victory against West Virginia Texas A&M started true freshmen at both safety positions, all three linebacker spots, at defensive end, quarterback and wide receiver. All of those players return, on top of a top-10 recruiting class.
Sumlin obviously glows when he discusses his young talent, players like Myles Garrett, Speedy Noil, Kyle Allen and Christian Kirk. That being said, Sumlin also told reporters they need those young players to grow up quickly if they are going to complete in the SEC West.
3. John Chavis leaving LSU was a big deal
After finishing last in the SEC in total defense, Kevin Sumlin fired his defensive coordinator and in a surprising move, took John Chavis away from LSU. Chavis had been in Baton Rouge since 2009 and had coached one of the leagues top defenses year in and year out. Now, Chavis must turn around a young defense in College Station. The tools are there, most noticeably Myles Garrett, who set an SEC Freshman Record with 11.5 sacks in 2014.