Kevin Sumlin puts a wrap on the 2016 cycle, sizes up Aggies' class

Kevin Sumlin's post-Signing Day press conference...

"It's a good day today for a lot of future Aggies ... a lot of smiling faces, a lot of happy parents, happy young men, and it's a very solid class. You look across at the numbers and we've got 12 guys on offense, 7 on defense and a couple really athletic guys that have played a number of positions in Moses Reynolds and Aaron Hansford, and one of the top punter-kickers in the country from right down the road.

"We filled a lot of needs today with guys we've needed. A lot gets said about National Signing Day for the players that play the hat game, but there's a lot to be said for the 16, 17, 18, 19 guys for us that have been committed that didn't get the hooplah a lot of guys got today but made up their mind, stuck with it and were a part of this class today. These guys are looking forward to getting here. First day of summer school is Tuesday, May 31st.

"We'll start spring football Feb. 29, which is right around the corner, for a week, take spring break, have our first spring game in three years on April 9th. This is a springboard today; coaches will take the next couple days -- we've been gone, obviously, recruiting -- be back in the office Monday in preparation to start spring football."

On Nick Starkel and Trevor Knight...

"I count Trevor in this class, and he was the first and most important recruit we secured after the bowl game. He's a man that has graduated, enrolled in the Mays Business School graduate school, MVP of the Sugar Bowl, been on big stages and won big games. He brings experience, he brings stabilization and he brings a competitive nature to the position along with Jake.

"Nick was a great fit for us. When we started talking with Nick, he was previously committed to another university; we explained the situation with him. He has tremendous upside, tall guy, rangy guy that will need to put on some weight and strength but has the mechanics and strong arm to come in and help us. He saw the perfect situation to come in and learn behind older guys, grow in the system and the program and in a strength program and then have his opportunity down the road -- maybe this time next year -- to compete to start. It was a good fit for us and really spread out the group with the three guys that are on scholarship right now.

"He understands his role coming in as a guy that doesn't have to play right now, can get into a system and learn it with a couple older guys that can shoulder the load."

On Aaron Hansford...

"We've got coaches upstairs arguing about him already. I'm gonna have to settle that. Coach Mazzone gets first dibs on him because he knew him first and recruited him. He's gonna be on offense. He has tremendous upside -- he's athletic, big, physical, fast, parents were both collegiate sprinters and he inherited that speed.

"He can play a lot of different things. All our coaches are excited to see what happens when he gets here, including Jeff Banks, our special teams coach. He fits that form that can play both sides of the ball. He's around 210, 215 but he can be 240 easily."

On how the OC change affected recruiting...

"I don't know how much it changed recruiting. I think it solidified some things. It didn't really affect us -- we had our five O-linemen committed for a while. It was most important for Nick Starkel to know what direction we were going. And it was important for Aaron Hansford since he was recruiting him. ... Once that was settled, it just was a calming effect in recruiting.

"It's fairly obvious what we're doing -- we've watched a lot of UCLA video, and Noel's a guy I've known a long time. We worked together probably 20-something years ago. He's a veteran offensive coordinator, whether it was Ole Miss, Auburn, NFL wide receiver coach, most recently at UCLA. The departure from what we did last year to what we're doing now is not a tremendous one, but the utilization of some bigger bodies -- Jordan Davis, Aaron Hansford -- were keys. Recruiting those guys gives us the advantage in what we want to do offensively and maybe add some more surfaces to the blocking areas.

"It's not like we didn't have a 1,200-yard rusher last year. We've got to be a more complete team, a team that's more efficient in our passing game, and for the first time we've got five running backs in spring football. We'll have more in spring football than we had all season last year. People understand what Noel's been about ... from a play-calling standpoint, there will be some changes."

On closing the gap on the rest of the SEC and whether this class helps...

"You have to look at the guys on your roster and the guys coming in to the program. As I've said before, which has become a standard statement, the SEC is not only a talent league but a talent-and-depth league. That has played out.

"You look at our signing today, you look across the board at our football team with this group of guys and there's not one guy you say, 'We've got to get him on the field RIGHT NOW' -- for the first time. We've been able to redshirt some guys; we signed five linebackers last year and three played. We've got depth, Otaro Alaka is coming back -- and he looks great, by the way, he's 240 right now -- and these guys don't have to get on the field right now and they can help us.

"We were able to sign a complete class of offensive linemen for the first time, all five with center, guards and tackles. That's a good thing for us, obviously, and we replenished the skill positions with guys [also] coming back on the perimeter. It has good skill players, good speed, but more than anything, adds depth to this football team, which we need."

On their DB recruiting philosophy (tall, long players)...

"You start looking at philosophy and body type, defensively we're looking for being a man team on the corner -- guys that are longer, who can play man-to-man with skills for press technique. You look at these guys and the true corners we have, Charles Oliver is probably the prototype for what we're looking for. Long guy that can really run. Some of these other guys will be safety-type guys.

"Clifford Chattman is a tremendous athlete, 6-4, 6-5, national recruit. He might be a lower-rated guy, but he wasn't rated low by some pretty good football teams trying to recruit him. Tremendous upside, he can do a lot of things, but he'll stay on the back end.

"We have guys that fit one piece and guys that can grow into other things; as your program starts to grow, you can do that without having specific positions for guys. A coaching staff with Chief and Noel, we've shown the ability to put guys in positions to be successful."

On any other NSD surprises...

"I don't know, right now. We'll see."

On any staff changes upcoming...

"We don't talk about staff stuff, we comment afterwards. There are things that happen on Signing Day across the country, but there's no reason to talk about that. Today's about these guys, it's a big day for them. Stuff's still going on; we only got Aaron an hour ago. East coast to west coast, who knows what'll happen."

On Moses Reynolds...

"He wants to start on defense. He's got broad shoulders ... we haven't been able to have those body types readily to move back and forth, which will really help us. Especially special teams-wise. Those body types, over the course of time, become 6-2, 210-pound guys that can play a number of positions."

On the defense's improvement helping recruiting...

"Last year we signed a pretty good defensive class, also. We had a lot of guys play -- the third-most out of the SEC 2015 snaps in our league. Tennessee was first, Georgia was second, we were third. So we had a number of freshmen play a lot last year. And a lot of those guys were the Daylon Macks and Kingsley Kekes of the world, the linebackers, guys that were quality special teams guys for us. Without a doubt, we were able to make some strides, get in some homes and talk to some guys.

"Chief's contacts and knowledge of Tennessee brought us two really good players -- Mr. Football in Tennessee, Tyrel Dodson, an impact linebacker who has been really solid for us in recruiting. He made his commitment, stuck with it and wanted to come here. So Chief's made an impact. Ikenna Okeke was a physical, ball-skilled guy."

On Trayveon Williams...

"I was just walking in here and he was in the locker room. Today was the players' day off. As a coach, you always see that, guys who do extra. And he just got here. It says a lot, but I'm not shocked. You know the kid. He's an early graduate, too. In his eyes, he plans on playing next year. He's doing everything he can. He's got a dynamic skill set, completely different than what we've had. You add the guys we have on campus -- Keith Ford ended bowl practice with a tremendous [flourish] and I think people have forgotten he's even here.

"We were able to add two really good transfers last year with Priest Willis, a corner who started at UCLA, and Keith Ford, who was a player at Oklahoma and a really good running back coming out of high school. They don't show up on the list but with them you start to see the depth piling up."

On his recruiting philosophy...

"We're not a high-pressure operation in recruiting. Our coaches do a great job of evaluation, our philosophy with early commitments, and sometimes the guys committed to us don't even have rankings yet because they haven't come out. We're not out looking for who's on what list; at the end of this cycle we're looking at juniors for next year and we've already had one junior day, another at the end of this month, Friday Night Lights during spring football.

"For us, the recruiting process IS about us. We get them on campus, families, coaches, everybody, and really present the information that we think sets us apart and makes us who we are at Texas A&M. It's not a situation where we threaten people. We want you to go home, talk to your family, talk to your coach, then call us and say, 'That's something I want to be a part of.' That's why we don't have a lot of decommitments. We had one Monday, and we had one that we got back.

"That's our nucleus. It's kind of sad that the guys who've gone through that process don't get the fanfare guys did today. People are still recruiting them, but their loyalty is a testament to them and to how we do things."

On whether having a good basketball team helps...

"It helps to have a GREAT basketball team. And by the way -- I'm glad you brought that up. Billy's doing a fabulous job, just across the board. Everybody on this campus is excited. We've had the last two Saturdays with recruiting visits, and what an atmosphere. Reed Arena is as loud as it's ever been. I had to bounce out of there last week at halftime because we had recruits coming out and I turned on the TV and the announcers were saying the other team was having to bark things out because it was so loud. That needs to continue. Those guys are fun to watch."

"He's a guy that, as college football goes, he's a grown man. Already earned a degree, in graduate school, is very strong in his faith, and you see how certain guys just ooze leadership and he's all about that. Just takes care of business, tremendous team guy. We got back here and what struck me is that his conversation level is a lot different than an 18-year old. His ability to rally guys when the coaches can't be there, he's already had guys out there throwing and catching. It's a, 'Coach, what do you need me to do?' attitude. Filling a void in leadership that we need right now.

"He's been that kind of guy -- you talk to people, his high school coach, Bob Stoops, Lincoln Riley, and he's always been that kind of guy. He fills a void that was needed in a lot of different ways."