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Coach Kevin Sumlin said Wednesday that he has not had discussions with Texas A&M about his future less than 24 hours after a report indicated that he'll be terminated, win or lose, following his team's regular-season finale. While making his weekly appearance on the SEC coaches teleconference, Sumlin was asked about the report by the Houston Chronicle, but said he hasn't spoken to Aggies' athletic director Scott Woodward this week. "I haven't talked to Scott since Saturday after the game," Sumlin said on Wednesday. When asked on Tuesday at his weekly press conference whether he expected to return in 2018, Sumlin said he did. Informed by a reporter that some in the media have been told otherwise, Sumlin said "I hadn't heard that." Sumlin, who is in his sixth season at Texas A&M, is 51-25 at the school but speculation about his job security has been rampant throughout this season, particularly in recent weeks after the Aggies dropped consecutive home games to Mississippi State and Auburn. The Aggies haven't finished a regular season with more than eight wins since 2013 and are currently 7-4. Fans and alumni have expressed frustration with the team's finishes, particularly with how the Aggies have performed in November under Sumlin. Since 2013, the Aggies are 4-10 against SEC competition in the final month of the regular season. They are 15-16 in SEC play overall since the start of the 2014 season. Asked Wednesday for his reaction to the Chronicle report, Sumlin said "It's not like we haven't dealt with this since the spring." Woodward, while appearing on The Paul Finebaum Show in May while attending the annual SEC coaches meetings in Destin, Florida, said: "Coach Sumlin knows he has to win. ... He has to win this year. He has to do better than he has done in the past." The Aggies have finished 8-5 each of the last three seasons. "I think our team has done a really, really nice job of focusing on games at hand," Sumlin said. "And we'll continue to do that. Certainly, we've had that experience since the beginning of the year." Asked on Wednesday if the report was a distraction to his team, Sumlin said he wasn't sure because he hasn't had a chance to talk to his team since the report was released. Coaches and players learned of the report following practice Tuesday and they will meet on Wednesday afternoon before their next practice. "We'll deal with it the way we've dealt with everything this year," Sumlin said. "We'll continue to do business as usual. Our staff and our coaches have done a nice job of handling it. In football ... you try to teach some lessons. Dealing with adversity, that's what life is about. "For our players, it's another learning experience and how they respond and how they react is one thing. How you perform is another. That is part of the learning experience that you try to teach young adults and that's how we've handled it."
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