Athletic director Scott Woodward has high hopes for Texas A&M

The man in charge of Texas A&M athletics wants to play Texas in football, wants the Arkansas football series played on campus and wants state-of-the-art facilities for all sports.

He does not, however, want Aggie fans to manage expectations.

In fact, Scott Woodward invites grandiose expectations because he has them, as well.

“Frankly, my expectations are just like theirs,” Woodward said. “We’re here to win championships, to do it the best way we can and to do it the right way."

In a Tuesday interview with TexAgs, Woodward said beer sales are being considered at A&M baseball games, he’s working to improve the quality of concessions at sporting events, that someday he’d like to schedule a football series with Washington and that he believes the football program has a solid foundation that can legitimately challenge SEC West powerhouses Alabama and LSU.

Woodward, who arrived in College Station four months ago from the University of Washington, said the infrastructure is there to warrant those expectations.

“We’re set up here,” he said. “We have resources here. We have great recruiting bases here. We have incredible academics here. We’re set to really do good things. My expectations are very high.”

Woodward isn’t the first athletic director to set high goals and forecast championships, but he seems to be delivering more than the company line.

He also has a history of getting things accomplished.

As athletic director at the University of Washington,  he was able to coax heralded football coach Chris Peterson away from Boise State and get him to come to Seattle. Woodward also spearheaded a $350 million drive to renovate Husky Stadium.

For years, A&M has discussed and debated the need to construct an outdoor track & field stadium and a new softball stadium. Those projects have been put on hold for more than a decade.

Two months ago, A&M regents approved plans to construct both facilities.

It’s no coincidence headway was made on those projects shortly after Woodward arrived.

“You look at the fact that you have probably the worst softball facility in the SEC, and you look at our outdoor track stadium (where) you can’t hold a meet for a world-class team,” Woodward said.

“That’s not the Aggie way. We want to be great at everything we do from physics to football. I didn’t have to do a lot of convincing. That’s the beauty of being here. Everybody is excited about the prospects moving forward. I sensed that from day one.”

Perhaps Woodward has been able to make traction because he appeared a great fit at Texas A&M from day one.

Woodward is more approachable than his predecessor, Eric Hyman, who at times seemed condescending … like when he said his job was to “manage expectations.”

Woodward is more cordial and laid back. He wears a business suit, of course, but frequently with an open-neck shirt.

“I only wear a tie when I’m asking for money,” he joked.

Humor and an easy-going nature plays well in College Station. It’s even better when the Aggies play well, too.

Texas A&M is the only Southeastern Conference member to appear in a football bowl game, the NCAA basketball tournament and the NCAA baseball playoffs. Indeed, A&M’s is the only athletic department in the nation to reach the postseason in every sport in which it competes.

The men’s basketball team reached the Sweet 16 for only the fourth time in school history. Woodward promptly awarded coach Billy Kennedy with a contract.

The baseball team is heading into the NCAA Super Regionals and is among the favorites to advance – and perhaps win – the College World Series.

Of course, football matters most, and after consecutive 8-5 finishes there has been growing discontent with Coach Kevin Sumlin’s program. In fact, the website coacheshotseat.com lists Sumlin as the coach whose job is most in jeopardy.

Not so, says Woodward. He said that A&M’s spectacular inaugural SEC season of 2012 – in which the Aggies finished 11-2 behind Heisman-winning quarterback Johnny Manziel – gave a false perception of the true strength of the A&M program.

“We didn’t have the depth or the size or the strength,” Woodward said. “We had the speed and very good skill positions, but we needed to get deeper and stronger. I know (Sumlin) has enunciated that many a time. As long as we see that progress, that’s what we need to be great.

“I really feel like (Sumlin) is a first-class coach, and I like the staff he’s put together. The first units look like SEC-caliber star athletes and star players. We need to get more in the depth department. We need to continue to recruit for the long haul of the SEC.”

Woodward actually offered LSU and Alabama as examples.

Though LSU won national championships in 2003 and 2007 and played for a national title in 2011, the Tigers endured a decade of mediocrity in the '90s.

“People forget (former LSU coaches) Mike Archer and Curley Hallman,” said Woodward, who attended LSU. “The first time I came to Kyle Field, R.C. (Slocum) whipped them pretty good. There were very average years in the late '80s and '90s … a decade of malaise, essentially. People forget that.”

He said there is a similar case of amnesia for Alabama, which has won four national championships in the past seven seasons.

However, Woodward pointed out Alabama's national title in 1992 under Gene Stallings and its first crown under Nick Saban in 2009 were separated by nearly twenty years.

“The reign of the three Mikes (coaches Mike DuBose, Mike Price and Mike Shula) was very average for Alabama,” Woodward said. “So, you go through these cycles.”

He said A&M is in the process of building a football program that can attain the kind of success that Alabama and LSU have had.

“I like where we are, and I like how we’re building,” Woodward said. “And I’m like the fan base –  I’m impatient. I also have to look at it from the standpoint of what we’re facing, what we’re up against and the job that we’re doing.

“This is one of those things where you have to make sure you’re getting it right and the foundation is solid so you’re not making – in my opinion – rash or imprudent decisions.”

One of the decisions he may face in the future is whether or not to restore the series against Texas, which canceled the long-time rivalry game after A&M left the Big 12 for the SEC in 2012.

Woodward said he would be in favor of playing Texas again, but only under the right circumstances.

“I’m against doing it at the end of the season,” he said.

“I’d like to do it at the beginning of the season. I think that makes more sense from my standpoint. We obviously have obligations with Power Five non-conference games going out a few years.

"Then, (there's) the standpoint of making sure it works for Texas, too," he continued. "We’re not totally blind here – though, we’d like to be – but it has to work for them as well. I guess at the proper time, we’ll have discussions about it.”

A lot of Aggies won’t like Woodward’s position on the Texas issue. Yet, most seem to like him.

He says he’s been made to feel very welcome by Aggies, but he’s also aware that in his job the love is not unconditional.

“I’ve been very welcomed, and I feel very good about it,” Woodward said. “But it’s always, 'What have you done for me?' (It's) not, 'What are you doing for me?'

“They want results. I want to give them results.”