Texas A&M Football: Kevin Sumlin's Swagger Has to Translate to Wins to Work

Recently colleague, good friend and all around good dude in the blogosphere, Aaron Torres of the blog and podcast Aaron Torres Sports, had Brandon Leone on his show to talk a little Texas A&M. Leone is a former Aggies running back and currently an analyst for TexAgs.com one of the premier Aggies websites. The two talked on the podcast about the transition to the SEC and of course Kevin Sumlin, the new head coach in College Station, TX.

As we've talked here and at Full Ride, the Aggies are absolutely hammering things out in recruiting. He's got a nice class early in the process and kids are responding. As Leone points out to Torres during their podcast:

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"He’s young, he brings a little of that swagger to the table and the recruits are just loving it. The team is feeding off him. He’s not afraid to rub shoulders with guys, and he’s not here to please people and do the things that he thinks he needs to do to get his check. He’s here to win."

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Recruits eat that stuff up and as you can see by the Aggies' 22 commitments for 2013 he's serving up full helpings. So yes, we're seeing the class take shape and that's a great thing. Yes, we have to get to February with all the kids in the boat for it to actually "count" but the start he's off to is worth noting.

However, as nice as solid recruiting numbers are, the fact is Sumlin's swagger has to transfer to the field for this to matter as much as we want to believe it does. Right now he's got projected starting quarterback, Johnny Manziel, facing three misdemeanors for an on-campus fight as CBS Sports reported last week. He's installing a somewhat new scheme, replacing Jeff Fuller as the big-time receiving threat on the outside and trying to figure out how to make this defense work.

Oh, and he's doing this all while transitioning to the SEC from the Big 12.

The recruiting rankings are nice and they will most certainly buy Sumlin plenty of time to be successful with the Aggies but in the end, it always boils down to wins. We know that Sumlin can recruit, now in about two months we'll get a chance to find out just how well he can coach them up. Florida is the first SEC opponent to come to town and with all the fanfare and introductions aside, this is going to be a game that acts as the initial measuring stick in College Station.

Putting the recruits in the boats is start; come September the win column is going to be what fans are looking to fill up. It is not going to be easy, and it will test folks' enthusiasm for the new coach. However, if Kevin Sumlin can match his teams on-field production with the recruiting prowess he has he has an opportunity to make folks very happy in College Station.