Jake Spavital's Departure Puts Pressure on Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin in 2016

It seemed like only a matter of time before Texas A&M and offensive coordinator Jake Spavital parted ways.

That time was Sunday.

The school announced via emailed press release that Spavital and the program have "mutually parted ways." Spavital had been with Texas A&M for the last three years as an assistant coach, including the last two as Texas A&M's quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator.

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"I want to thank Jake for his time here and for his important role in our program," head coach Kevin Sumlin said. "He is a bright, young coach with a tremendous future in coaching and we wish him all of the best in his career."

Spavital took the move in stride.

"I want to thank Coach Sumlin for an amazing opportunity in College Station and I leave here proud of our program and our accomplishments," he said. "I look forward to the next step in my coaching journey and I wish the Aggies nothing but the best."

This isn't another case of Texas A&M crumbling after quarterbacks Kyler Murray and Kyle Allen both decided to transfer in December. Spavital moving on is addition by subtraction for Sumlin.

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As I noted in late October, Spavital's quarterbacks have fallen off the cliff in the middle of three of the last four seasons, the offense finished fifth in the conference in total offense in each of the last two seasons after leading it during the previous two and the Aggies have shown a remarkable lack of development at virtually every offensive position.

Make no mistake, though. There's nobody left for Sumlin to blame, which puts all of the pressure on him to turn things around in 2016.

No matter who is hired to run the offense, the mere fact that the offense has become a problem over the last year-and-a-half is a direct indictment of Sumlin's ability to successfully run a program.

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Offense was never an issue with any of the teams he coached prior to the last two seasons. His Houston offenses finished in the top 11 nationally in each of his four seasons from 2008-2011, and Texas A&M finished no worse than fourth during his first two seasons in College Station.

That has changed due in part to quarterback struggles, but also an offensive line that didn't develop, play-calling that was suspect at best and an offensive identity that never materialized.

In Destin, Florida, at SEC spring meetings, Sumlin said this about his plan to focus more on the running game in 2015:

"It's not a dramatic change from what we were doing, but we are doing some things—without giving away any secrets—where we can run the ball not only when we want to run it, but when we need to," he said.

Yet, on third downs of six yards or fewer, Texas A&M called 62 passing plays and 61 rushing plays in 2015. When the Aggies "needed to" run, they still were far too pass-happy.

According to NFL.com's Mike Silver, Sumlin is pushing hard to get out of College Station and move up to the NFL.

There's a good reason why. 

Sumlin knows this shine is wearing off post-Johnny Manziel, and the pressure that will come with a 2016 season in which he would be coaching for his job at Texas A&M won't make for a fun offseason at Texas A&M.

Sumlin fixed the defense last offseason when he lured John Chavis away from LSU to replace Mark Snyder, and now he's in the market for a new offensive coordinator after the failed Spavital experiment.

If this hire doesn't work out, Texas A&M will likely fix itself by showing Sumlin the door. Athletics director Eric Hyman gave Sumlin the dreaded vote of confidence on Monday according to Kate Hairopoulos of the Dallas Morning News, and that never happens unless there's an abundance of frustration and perhaps some noise in the system.

Sink or swim, the 2016 season is all on Sumlin.

There's nobody left to blame.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics are courtesy of cfbstats.com, and recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.