Randy Galloway of The Fort Wort Star-Telegram is the latest journalist to kick Texas AD DeLoss Dodds around for his latest comments regarding Texas A&M.  Earlier this week Dodds said that it was A&M that scuttled the Longhorns/Aggies rivalry, that it would only be re-started under Texas’ rules, and that Longhorn fans don’t even care about playing their most hated rival any longer.

That’s all nonsense, of course, and everyone outside of those in burnt orange knows it.

That’s why Galloway believes it’s time for Dodds to get over his Aggie-phobia:

“Well, first, not once as the Aggies were departing the Big 12 did anyone in College Station say the rivalry with UT was over. It was just the opposite. School officials repeatedly said, with the move to the SEC, A&M wanted to continue the game, and if it could no longer happen at Thanksgiving, pick another date.

Second, if DeLoss is actually listening to his fan base, I’d like to know what his poll says on Mack Brown continuing as head coach.

But these are tough times for Dodds. Shockingly, the Aggies became the national talk of college football in their first SEC season. The Longhorns, after the last couple of seasons, just hope they are still talked about in Austin.

Based on current conditions, DeLoss should have a wet finger in the air, and be playing the wind. If he doesn’t want to play A&M again, a much more diplomatic answer to the question would come across better.

DeLoss had the PR hammer as the Aggies departed. In a one-eighty, the Aggies now have the hammer.

The rivalry, at some point — probably after DeLoss retires — will continue. It should continue. Everyone knows that.”

Galloway also did a little recon on other Texas-based schools that used to play A&M to see who’d be interested in scheduling them again.  Texas Tech and TCU are both in favor of playing the Aggies.  Baylor — which threatened lawsuits in an attempt to block A&M’s move to the SEC — shows no interest.

But if given the opportunity to fire up some old rivalries, here’s guessing the Bears would rank behind the Longhorns, Red Raiders and Horned Frogs on most Aggie fans’ lists.

The contract is now public record and the numbers are available for all to see.  Kevin Sumlin’s new contract at Texas A&M isn’t quite a $3.5 million deal as had been speculated, but it’s close.

Going into 2012, A&M’s coach had a contract worth $2 million per year.  After an 11-2 first season in College Station, that number has been bumped to $3.1 million.  But there’s also the potential bring in nearly $800,000 in bonuses.

The pact has also been extended to run through the 2017 season.

Sumlin has also been given $700,000 more dollars to dole out to his assistant coaches beginning this season.

Over the weekend, Texas A&M football coach Kevin Sumlin was presented with an honorary heavyweight championship belt by WWE.  In typical wrestling fashion, the villain du jour — a massive character known as “The Big Show” — interrupted the presentation and proceeded to insult Sumlin and the crowd cheering him.

The Big Show went so far as to refer to Texas A&M as a “second-rate university.”  This particular WWE event took place in College Station, so you can imagine the fan reaction.

The best part?  A quick round of the now familiar “S-E-C, S-E-C” chant briefly reigned down upon the leotard-wearing baddie.

Anything for recruiting.

New Texas A&M co-offensive coordinator Clarence McKinney made it clear yesterday that he has no intentions of hindering Heisman-winning quarterback Johnny Manziel:

“We’re going to let Johnny do what he does best.  We’re not going to try and control him.  We’re going to give him the system and let him play football…

I don’t see a reason to change much.  We’re going to add some things to get better, but our philosophy offensively is to take what the defense gives us.”

McKinney has been with Kevin Sumlin since serving as his running backs coach at Houston.  In other words, he knows the offense and he knows how Sumlin wants it run.

Listen closely and you can hear a deafening sigh of relief emanating from College Station.

(CORRECTION — An earlier version of this story said that McKinney came to A&M from West Virginia after serving on Sumlin’s Houston staff.  In fact, it was Jake Spavital — the other co-offensive coordinator — who was hired from Dana Holgorsen’s staff.  Apologies.)

Texas A&M freshman wide receiver Thomas Johnson has been missing since Monday, the school announced on Wednesday.

The Texas A&M University Police Department is seeking assistance in locating Johnson, who was last seen leaving his residence in College Station on Monday at about 5 p.m. central time, according to police.

Anyone with information regarding the location of Johnson is asked to contact University Police immediately at 979-845-2345.

Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin released a statement Wednesday evening. From KBTX-TV:

“All of us are obviously very concerned about the safety and well-being of Thomas Johnson, who has been missing since Monday evening. Authorities are working closely with his family, friends and law enforcement agencies to help locate him. Thomas is a tremendous student-athlete, greatly admired by his fellow teammates and all of us on the coaching staff. If anyone has any current information about him or knows of his whereabouts, please  contact his family or law enforcement authorities immediately. We pray for his quick and safe return.”

Update: Johnson found safe overnight.  No other details given at this time.

As soon as Texas A&M entered the SEC, discussions began in College Station regarding the state of the Aggies’ football home.  Word leaked that A&M might even consider flattening Kyle Field in order to build a bigger, newer facility from scratch.

Well, the current Kyle Field isn’t going to be torn down yet.  But if Aggie officials have their way, it will be upgraded.  In a big way.

According to The Bryan (Texas) Eagle, TAMU chancellor John Sharp told a select group of local government officials earlier this week that the school plans to spend up to $450 million to renovate Kyle Field… and that the school wants local politicians to kick in an additional $38 million.

A&M’s leverage is this: We’ll tear down our current stadium and play an entire season of games — worth about $86 million to the local economy — somewhere else while we rebuild if you don’t help us with a three-year renovation project of the current facility.  Whether the school is bluffing — and whether politicians would risk calling that bluff — remains to be seen.

TAMU president R. Bowen Loftin said via statement yesterday:

“It is important to reiterate that no decisions have been made as to whether the Aggies will play a season away from Kyle Field, and we continue to hope that this will be an unlikely option.”

The seating capacity for a renovated stadium could be anywhere from 93,000 to 103,500, depending on the plan chosen.  The stadium currently seats 83,000.

Jason Cook — the VP of marketing and communications at Texas A&M — just sent his school’s official statement regarding the Gainesville billboard to MrSEC.com.  Here’s what it says:

“This billboard was not placed by Texas A&M University, and it is certainly not reflective of how we have handled our transition into the SEC. We are investigating aggressively, as we believe that our institutional trademarks have been infringed upon. Texas A&M has tremendous respect for the University of Florida, and we look forward to hosting the Gators in our first SEC football game this weekend.”

I don’t think anyone for a second believes the university was behind the placement of a trash-talking billboard in Gainesville, but it’s still a wise move by the folks at A&M to make that point explicitly clear.  If there’s anyone upset by this affair, you can bet it’s the people in the A&M administration and on the Aggie coaching staff.

As I stated in my initial post on this affair, all it takes is one oaf to ruin a party.  So was this oaf an Aggie, a Gator trying to motivate his own squad, or someone connected to another program altogether?  Clearly, the folks in College Station are trying to figure that one out ASAP.

Hurricane Isaac provided Kevin Sumlin with an early test of his brand of discipline at Texas A&M.  Compared to the action taken today by Michigan coach Brady Hoke, Sumlin failed that test.

A&M’s new coach had initially suspended starting linebacker Steve Jenkins and backup defensive back Howard Matthews for his squad’s season opener with Louisiana Tech.  But when Isaac hit Louisiana and the Aggies’ Thursday night opener with Louisiana Tech in Shreveport was postponed, Sumlin backpedaled faster than a corner at the NFL combine.  Instead of sitting Jenkins and Matthews for A&M’s opener — which will now come against Florida in College Station — the coach decided to delay their suspensions.  They’ll still miss the LaTech game… on October 13th.

Sumlin has not opened up about what those players did to deserve their suspensions, but if it was bad enough to miss the opening game, why alter that plan just because the opener will now be against a better foe?  Is that really teaching a lesson to those players and to the team as a whole regarding discipline?

Apparently Michigan’s Hoke would think not.  His team will face Alabama tomorrow night in what most are viewing as the game of the week in college football.  The Wolverines will try to beat the defending BCS champs without starting running back Fitzgerald Toussaint and backup defensive end Frank Clark.  Hoke made the call today to suspend his players today.

Toussaint pleaded guilty to drunk driving on Tuesday.  Clark stands accused of stealing a laptop computer from a dorm room.  Maybe those actions are worse than whatever it was Jenkins and Matthews did to land in Sumlin’s semi-doghouse in College Station.  Maybe not.

Either way, Hoke comes out looking tough on crime while Sumlin looks rather weak.

“The decision was not easy, but I feel it is in the best interest of this program and for these kids, and that will always be my priority,” Hoke said in a press release.  “We have choices every day, and you have to be accountable to this program, your teammates, your family and the University of Michigan.”

Hoke also added: “It’s not always just about football, or a football decision.  It’s about teaching life lessons, and if this helps these kids or someone else make a right decision later, then we’ve won.  That is ultimately what we are here for, to help them grow and mature to become better sons, fathers, husbands and members of society… They are good young men who made poor choices, and we will continue to support them as members of our team and family.”

Big advantage: Hoke.

That said, the reality — sadly — is that if Jenkins and A&M beat Florida next week and a Toussaint-less Michigan gets clocked by Alabama tomorrow, Aggie fans will approve of Sumlin’s backtrack and Wolverine fans will question Hoke’s choice.

That’s too bad.  Because in cases like these, if you’re going to have discipline you shouldn’t pick and choose when it will be meted out based upon your upcoming opponent’s skill level.  Sumlin is hardly the first coach to go that route, of course.  But we at MrSEC.com would be a lot more impressed if he’d stuck to his guns in this matter, his first true test as Aggie head coach.

Yesterday’s shooting in College Station — three dead, four wounded, shooter killed — was just a matter of blocks from Texas A&M’s football facilities.  That fact left a number of Aggie coaches stunned.

Head coach Kevin Sumlin:

“A lot of times you see thigns on the national news, and (then) you look up, and the national news is (just) blocks away.  It really hits home for you.  From my office window, you can see across the street, and they had blocked off the street.”

Tight end coach Mike Lamothe:

“When I first heard about it, I thought I was dreaming.  It was (happening) in College Station?  Really?  It was just shocking and really sad, and I’m praying for the families affected.”

Special teams coach Brian Polian:

“It was hard to fathom, and for something like that to happen three blocks from our practice field is scary.  Honestly, (the coaches) live in such a bubble and such an isolated world, and we were in the meetings, and suddenly everybody’s cell phone started buzzing.

I didn’t realize CNN had picked it up, too, and we have family all over the place, so I was geting texts asking, ‘Is everybody all right?’  We didn’t even know what was going on…

It’s a scary deal.  My heart breaks for the people who were affected, and my heart breaks for this community.  It was just shocking that something like this could happen in Bryan/College Station.  It doesn’t feel liek that kind of place, but unfortunately it’s the world we live in today.

I guess nobody is immune.”

Another day, another shooting spree by an American madman.  This time, a constable and two others were killed Monday near the campus of Texas A&M in College Station.  Four more others were injured.  The gunman was also killed.

You can read more about the shooting and the background of the shooter here and here.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to what must be a shaken College Station community today.