Reports Say Texas A&M Locker Room Is In Shambles, Freshman Phenom QB Kyler Murray Cursed Out Coaching Staff

[Houston]

…But those issues pale in comparison to the albatross hanging over the entire program. There is a divide and absolute distrust in the locker-room.

At the core of it all, of course, is players taking up sides on who should play quarterback and the mixed-messages Kevin Sumlin apparently gave both his five-star quarterbacks. And, by extension, the entire team.

The reality of the dysfunction that came to life at Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium on Saturday night was that it was not just a bad game or poor coaching. It was the live-and-in-color manifestation of deep-seeded issues in the locker-room — trust issues that started long before the season even began.

When Sumlin closed the deal to sign five-star quarterback Kyler Murray, who legitimately changed his mind and was close to signing with the Texas Longhorns late in the recruiting process, he made Murray and his father, Kevin Murray, some kind of promise about playing time. Who knows exactly what that promise was, but multiple sources say promises were made.

But then five-star sophomore Kyle Allen won the job in camp and through most early games gained the majority of playing time. Tensions grew between Kyler Murray and Allen. Tensions also grew between Kyler and [OC Jake] Spavital. Sumlin’s promise of how much playing time Murray would receive was at best misinterpreted by the Murray family or at worst was a promise that was not kept.

Hence, when Murray was yanked in the Alabama game after throwing an interception, he went full F-bomb on Spavital and his fate for the Ole Miss game was sealed. But the drama did not stop with the Aggie coaching staff deciding early last week not to play Murray in Oxford.

Murray apparently did not take a single snap with the first-team offense in practice and was told he would travel and suit out for the Ole Miss game, even though he would not play. Players began taking sides in the locker-room more than ever, some believing Allen’s physical (shoulder) and mental struggles should have opened the door for Murray to get a legitimate chance to make the team his.

Some players also believed Murray should have been left at home, rather than face the embarrassment of national television cameras focused on him any time Allen made a mistake. Then, the worst-case scenario happened. Allen wasn’t just bad. He was awful. And there was Murray, shamed on the sideline, for all the college football world to see.

For his own sake, Allen should have been pulled from the game after the first series of the second-half. Allen’s spiraling descent into the mental mess he was in the fourth-quarter was awkward, sad and uncomfortable to watch. Nowhere more so than on the Aggie sideline, where the divide only grew bigger among players.

Even though Murray deserved some kind of discipline, some players believed keeping him on the bench was a bad move by the head coach — especially after Allen’s struggles. Sumlin’s foremost job, after all, is to win games. Others also believed that if Jake Hubenak was going to play, why wait so long to put him into the game?

Thus, today Sumlin has a lot on his plate. The problems are numerous. Tactical and staff changes must be made. But losing games is one thing, losing his team’s confidence is something altogether more complicated and potentially damaging.

Today, Sumlin must gather his team and find a way, some way, somehow, to fix more than Xs and Os. He must mend fences. And regain his team’s trust.

…

The annual hot-start-followed-by-midseason-collapse is in full swing for A&M, as usual, but in a little extra added drama, it would appear that Kevin Sumlin is starting to lose his team as more and more damaging reports come out. None worse than big time recruit Kyler Murray telling the OC to fuck his own face which made him unavailable to play in the Ole Miss game while he sat there sulking on the sidelines.

Kind of laughable what I’m reading about the reasons for the blowup to be honest. Um, here’s an idea dude. How about win the starting job? I mean by all accounts it was a fair QB competition in camp. Two Five-Star recruits battling it out, and Kyle Allen won it fair and square. Maybe instead of hanging on to “promises made during recruiting” you could go out and actually earn something instead of being entitled? You think Allen didn’t hear some “promises” during his recruiting?

Then Allen had them on a 5-0 start and ranked #9 in the nation. All you had to do was work hard and keep grinding waiting for an injury or a blowup on the field and it would be your time to shine. Instead, when Murray gets the yips and starts looking like a JV-B QB out there, you throw a pick and F-bomb the entire coaching staff for pulling you out of the game. Grow up.

If you were Kevin Sumlin, you’d have a video of you allegedly stumbling around your hotel blacked out after Saturday’s game too.