12/7/2011 football Edit

Sources: Sumlin to be next AM coach

Mark Passwaters and Jeff Tarpley

Publisher

A little less than a week after Mike Sherman was fired, it appears Texas A&M has found its next head coach.

Sources close to both the Texas A&M and University of Houston programs have told AggieYell.com that, barring a snag in financial negotiations, Houston coach Kevin Sumlin will be the next head coach of the Aggies.

An agreement is expected to be finalized by the end of the week.

Sumlin, 47, was named Conference USA Coach of the Year on Wednesday after leading the Cougars to a 12-1 record (No. 19 in the BCS standings) in 2011. The only loss of the season was a 49-28 drubbing at the hands of the University of Southern Mississippi in the C-USA title game, which catapulted Larry Fedora into the A&M coaching discussion as well.

According to the Associated Press, Fedora accepted the head job at the University of North Carolina Wednesday.

During his four seasons at Houston, Sumlin has compiled a 35-17 record and a 1-1 bowl mark. The Cougars will face Penn State in the TicketCity Bowl on Jan. 2, 2012, at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

Sumlin has a past history with A&M, serving as an assistant under former coach R.C. Slocum in 2001 and 2002. Sumlin took over as the Aggies' offensive coordinator four games into the 2002 season and held the position for the remainder of the year, until Slocum and his staff were fired after a 6-6 season.

Click Here to view this Link.Sumlin spent four years as an assistant at the University of Minnesota before spending the 1997-2000 seasons at Purdue - his alma mater - as the wide receivers coach.

After leaving College Station, Sumlin served as the special teams, tight ends and wide receivers coach, as well as co-offensive coordinator, at the University of Oklahoma from 2003-2007.

At Houston, Sumlin's offenses have racked up record totals in a pass-heavy spread scheme. The Cougars are currently ranked first in the nation in total offense, averaging 599 yards a game. Houston also leads the nation in passing offense (443.77 yards per game), but ranks 62 in rushing offense at 155 yards per game.