Texas A&M Football: Checklist for Kevin Sumlin at A&M

The Texas A&M Aggies have named Kevin Sumlin their new head football coach. Now the real work begins. Texas A&M is expected to apply for the same kind of waiver from the NCAA that North Carolina and Ohio State have received to allow them to exceed the number of coaches on the staff while they undergo the transition from the old staff to the new and prepare for a bowl game.

Sumlin has left the Houston program and will begin to work on improving A&M immediately. Tony Levine, an assistant on Sumlin's staff at Houston, will be the interim head coach for the Cougars in their bowl game.

Sumlin has to get a lot done in a short period of time. This is a look at a checklist of things to do in the next two months while Sumlin gets acclimated to Aggieland.

Hire Offensive and Defensive Coordinators

Kevin Sumlin is going to have to decide who his coordinators are going to be.

Sumlin's offensive coordinator/quarterback coach at Houston was Kliff Kingsbury. The former Texas Tech quarterback has spent the last two years running the offense at Houston. He is expected to be at the top of the list of possible candidates for the offensive coordinator position.

Tim Deruyter will be the interim head coach for the Aggies when they play in the Texas Bowl on Dec. 31. He will be among the candidates for defensive coordinator that Sumlin will consider.

The Aggies should remain a 3-4 team unless they want to spend the next three to four years recruiting for a new system. Deruyter is one of the top defensive coordinators in the country. If he does not take a head coaching position elsewhere, then he should receive serious consideration for the defensive coordinator spot.

Decide Which Position Coaches from A&M to Retain

Kevin Sumlin is going to have to decide how many position coaches from the current A&M staff that he wants to retain.

Terrell Williams is the Aggies defensive line coach and arguably their best recruiter. He is a must-have as far as assistant coaches go.

The Aggies wide receiver coach and defensive backs coach would likely have not been retained even if Mike Sherman remain as the head coach. Sumlin will have to find replacements for Troy Walters and Charles McMillan.

The real questions come at positions like the running back coach where Randy Jordan has done a great job with the A&M running backs. He has also formed a bond with current uber-recruit Trey Williams.

It will be interesting to watch this process as it moves forward because the Ags have a lot of quality assistant coaches currently on their staff.

Hit the Juco Ranks Hard

It is no secret that the Aggies need some immediate help on the defensive line.

They are losing two starters on the DL to graduation and possibly a third if Jonathan Mathis is not granted his medical red-shirt.

The Aggies ideally would add two JUCO DTs in order to add depth. If they can add more than two, then all the better.

A new head coach means a new set of eyes when it comes to evaluating recruits, and Sumlin may have had his eye on some recruits while at UH who can help A&M.

He needs to hit the ground running when it comes to recruiting and bring in some junior college help on the defensive line and possibly at inside linebacker.

Shore Up the Current Recruiting Class

The Ags currently have a recruiting class that is ranked in the top 10.

Some of the recruits are wavering after the coaching change.

Kevin Sumlin needs to get on the road and go visit Bralon Addison and Trey Williams in particular.

Williams may be the most important recruit of the class. The running back from Dekany High School has rushed for over 3,600 yards and led his team to the Texas High School State Championship game next Saturday. The Oklahoma State coaches have been pestering him with lies about A&M since he committed to the Ags and Sumlin needs to shore up his commitment.

Bralon Addison has also led his team to the state title game and was a one-time Oklahoma State commit.

Sumlin needs to secure both of these commits and quickly establish relationships with the other members of this class.

It will be interesting to see what happens with junior college CB recruit Otis Jacobs. He graduates from junior college on Tuesday. Sumlin will have to work a minor miracle to keep him from decommitting and signing with Tennessee.

Excite/Unite the Fanbase

While a lot of Aggies are excited about the new hire, there remains a large group who thinks that Sumlin is nothing more than a chuck and duck offensive coach who will get killed in the Southeastern Conference.

Sumlin needs to remind everyone how well his offenses ran the ball when he was at A&M and Oklahoma.

He also needs to hire a quality defensive staff to assure everyone that he is serious about the defensive side of the ball.

Sumlin needs to get the Aggies excited about football and moving to the SEC. He needs to bring them all together behind the program and get momentum headed in the right direction.

Sell the Team on His Plan

The current football players at A&M viewed Mike Sherman as a father figure and respected him for his candor.

Sumlin will have to gain their trust and sell the players on his vision for the future for Aggie football.

I do not think there is a team in recent memory that has had to make a transition into a major conference and with a new head coach in the same season. The Aggies need to find a way to roll with these changes and have success on the field.

A&M joined the SEC so they could change the perception of the program. The team and coaches need to come together so they can start a new era in Aggie football the right way.