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FCS school makes contact with former SEC head coach

photos -jpgby: Ashton Pollard12/10/21ashtonpollard7
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Prairie View A&M is in need of a new head coach, and they are reportedly aiming for a former leader from the nation’s top football conference.

According to Mark Berman of Fox 26 in Houston, sources say the school has contacted former Houston, Texas A&M and Arizona head coach Kevin Sumlin about their vacancy. 

Sumlin has a 95-63 record as a head coach, and he is best known for coaching former Texas A&M quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel. The Alabama native is not currently coaching after he was fired from Arizona in December 2020 after going 0-5 and falling to in-state rival Arizona State 70-7.

Prairie View A&M is in search of a new head coach after Eric Dooley resigned on Monday. Dooley, who is a native of New Orleans, took the same job at Southern on Tuesday. Assistant coach Bubba McDowell has been appointed the interim head coach.

The Panthers went 7-5 this season, including a loss to Texas A&M, and won the Western Division in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. It was their first division title since 2009. They ultimately fell to Jackson State in the SWAC Championship Game.

Sumlin led Aggies to historic first SEC season

When Sumlin made the 100-mile jump from Houston to Texas A&M in 2012, he was tasked with leading the Aggies in their first season in the SEC.

Texas A&M started the season unranked in the AP Poll. They finished 11-2 with a win over No. 1 Alabama (who ultimately won the national title) and tied for fifth in the final AP rankings. It was the Aggies’ first undefeated season since 1998, and their first undefeated road season since 1939. That year, Texas A&M became the first SEC team in history to post more than 7,000 yards of total offense.

Additionally, the aforementioned Manziel won the Heisman Trophy, the first freshman to do so. He threw for 3,706 yards with 26 passing touchdowns and nine interceptions. A true dual-threat quarterback, Manziel added 21 rushing scores in his redshirt freshman season.

Following the 11-win season, Sumlin did not win double digit games again or finish above fourth place in the SEC West. He was let go in November 2017 after going 7-5 and was hired by Arizona less than two months later.