Kevin Sumlin isn’t surprised by A&M’s Texas recruiting dominance. Are you?

Even without a division or conference title, Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin has been able to treat the last two SEC Media Days as a victory lap, having first dispelled the notion that the Aggies wouldn’t be able to compete in the SEC and more recently that A&M would struggle to recruit its own state without the benefit of playing teams like Texas.

Not only has Texas A&M risen to the top of the SEC in recruiting prowess in its first two years in the league, it has also far surpassed its Big 12 neighbors in Texas.

“It’s a combination of a lot of things,” said Sumlin. “It was the right time. The questions we had the first year, they’ve changed. Moving to the SEC’s one thing; if we’d have gotten our brains beat out like everybody’d thought, it wouldn’t have worked. We haven’t accomplished what we want to accomplish. You look at where we are, particularly in the West, in terms of depth, that’s what we’re recruiting to.”

The Longhorns were historically the destination team — and destination brand — in Texas, but right now, the Aggies are the team to beat. More often than not, if all the Texas teams offered a 2015 recruit, that player has chosen Texas A&M.

According to the 247 Sports Composite, A&M’s standing among SEC teams and Texas’ Big 12 teams:

Chart by Kevin Trahan.

When Sumlin was asked if he was surprised by the success he’s had in the state, he was quick to certify his reign over a transitioning Longhorns program and his former Big 12 neighbors.

“If I were surprised, I wouldn’t have taken the job,” he said.

Sumlin certainly enjoys the change in perception of A&M, but he was quick to admit that the Aggies were without a SEC title and are still working to build the depth that division rivals LSU and Alabama enjoy.

“Thursday night in New York was a great night,” he said of the NFL Draft. “We had three guys drafted in the first round. That’s the good news. The bad news is we didn’t have another guy drafted. Alabama and LSU had nine and eight guys drafted. That speaks to depth across the board. For us to be where we need to be, we need to be talented, but we need to have depth. There’s two ways to do it: development and recruiting. We have to do that. This league is as tough Sunday through Friday as it is on Saturday. Obviously the NFL believes that, because there’s more guys drafted out of this league than any other league in the country.”

His staff was “hooting and hollering” in celebration of their first class’ top-10 ranking -- until they realized it ranked fourth in the SEC West.

Also, please stop asking him about Johnny Manziel.