By now, you probably know that Johnny Manziel nearly transferred away from Texas A&M prior to the 2012 season due to being suspended in relation to a bar fight in College Station. Thankfully for Manziel and the Aggies, his suspension was lifted, and he went on to win the starting quarterback job, and later the Heisman Trophy.
How Kevin Sumlin helped prevent Johnny Manziel’s potential transfer
The Texas A&M head coach played a key role in keeping the future Heisman winner with the Aggies before the 2012 season.
Mike Stobe
None of it may have happened, though, unless head coach Kevin Sumlin put in a word for Manziel, according to The Oklahoman’s Anthony Slater.
“A lot has been said about discipline, but he went through all that, which is a little bit more than people think,” Sumlin said. “That’s not a public deal, it’s just what I ask him to do. He did all those things and his parents were involved in all of that. So for him to go through that, then go through camp and those types of things and earn the job, that’s what’s brought him to where he is now.”
The cynics among us would probably say that Sumlin lobbied to get Manziel reinstated because he needed a quarterback, but that's not accurate. Manziel wasn't named the starting quarterback until two weeks before the season, and only narrowly beat out Jameill Showers for the job.* As Sumlin told SB Nation:
We didn’t choose a starting quarterback until two weeks before the season. So at this point last year, contrary to public opinion, we did not have a starting quarterback. So we went into two-a-days in fall camp with competition at all those positions, and the end result was Johnny winning the job, not us just picking him.
*Showers, ironically enough, ended up transferring to UTEP.
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