Texas A&M Football: Best Quotes and Key Takeaways from SEC Media Days

Texas A&M's arrival in the SEC in 2012 was a lightning bolt to the top, compliments of Johnny Manziel and a wide-open offense mostly unseen before in the league. But since then, the Aggies have been on a steady downward trend, going from 11 wins that first year to nine in 2013 and then eight last year.

The slide is projected to continue this season, at least in the eyes of the SEC's voting media, as it picked A&M to finish sixth in the seven-team West Division, according to the SEC's official website. Only four of the 225 ballots submitted had A&M finishing first, and two had it claiming the conference title.

Coach Kevin Sumlin seems to be taking these reduced expectations in stride, opting to bring a trio of linemen—but not rising star Myles Garrett—instead of any of his many notable skill-position players.

Senior center Mike Matthews, junior tackle Germain Ifedi and senior defensive lineman Julien Obioha represented the Aggies on Tuesday, giving the team a very lunchpail-and-hard hat vibe that goes against the high-flying persona Sumlin's program has resembled the last few years.

But Sumlin isn't ready to downplay what his team is capable of, however.

"I think we've established ourselves as a team that has high expectations internally," he said, per Jim Kleinpeter of NOLA.com.

A&M returns 15 starters from last year's team, including defensive end Garrett—who set the SEC freshman sack record previously held by Jadeveon Clowney—and quarterback Kyle Allen. He took over for Kenny Hill midway through last season and threw for 1,058 yards and 13 touchdowns in his five starts, including a 294-yard, four-touchdown effort in the Liberty Bowl win over West Virginia.

Butch Dill/Associated Press

Allen figures to hold onto that starting job despite the arrival this summer of 5-star quarterback prospect Kyler Murray, the top-rated dual-threat passer in the 2015 recruiting class, per 247Sports. Sumlin appeared open to the possibility of playing both, however.

"I really haven't done it before; we'll see," Sumlin said, per Kate Hairopoulos of the Dallas Morning News. "We've never started out that way. That doesn't mean that we won't. We’ll see where we are in fall."

With an offense that returns five players who had at least 29 receptions last season (and brings in standout receiving prospect Christian Kirk), it probably won't matter who plays at quarterback for the Aggies since Sumlin's teams are routinely among the most explosive in the country. Last year's team, which ranked 32nd nationally in total offense, was the only one in his head-coaching career that wasn't among the top 12 in FBS.

Fresh blood on defense

A&M returns seven defensive starters, led by Garrett, and has highly touted tackle Daylon Mack coming in this summer. But the biggest addition to the Aggies defense won't ever put on a helmet and pads.

Jonathan Bachman/Associated Press

John Chavis takes over as defensive coordinator, the same job he held at LSU from 2009-14. His hiring was the source of much controversy during the offseason, leading to a lawsuit by LSU over Chavis' buyout from his contract at that school, but his track record with the Tigers seems to make him worth the legal headache.

Chavis' LSU defenses ranked 15th or better in each of the past five seasons, and in the three meetings against Sumlin's teams at A&M, he held the Aggies it to 15.3 points per game. A reporter at SEC media days asked Sumlin if he thought the best way to beat Chavis was to hire him away from LSU, and Sumlin didn't dodge the question.

"I didn't kind of," he said, per Kleinpeter. "That's exactly what I did. There's really nothing more to the answer than that."

By stealing a coach away from the team that has become A&M's chief rival in the SEC and whom it ends the regular season against, there's now some added "fire" to the rivalry. 

"I don't know if it can get any more spicier than it is now," Sumlin said, per the Associated Press (via Newsday).

The 'fat kids' take center stage

As exciting as Texas A&M's offenses have been under Sumlin, the reality is that he's been most successful at sending top-tier offensive linemen to the NFL. Each of the last three drafts have had an Aggies blocker go in the first round, most recently Cedric Ogbuehi, so it made sense that Sumlin brought along three players from the trenches to media days.

"It's kinda cool because he brought all the fat kids, I like that," Obioha told SB Nation's Good Bull Hunting blog.

A&M's prowess on the defensive line hasn't been as noteworthy as on the other side, though Garrett's play in 2014 at end and the arrival of Mack is putting more emphasis on that unit. The 6'4" Obioha has started since his freshman year, and this offseason he has added 20 pounds in order to convert from an end to a tackle, as Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle recently noted:

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.