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Texas A&M chancellor declines to comment on Kevin Sumlin's job status

Sam Cooper
College football writer
Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp speaks at a news conference at the Capitol in Austin, Texas, on Thursday Sept. 7, 2017, where Gov. Greg Abbott announced Sharp will head the Rebuild Texas initiative following Hurricane Harvey. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp speaks at a news conference at the Capitol in Austin, Texas, on Thursday Sept. 7, 2017, where Gov. Greg Abbott announced Sharp will head the Rebuild Texas initiative following Hurricane Harvey. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

It doesn’t seem like a three-game winning streak has cooled Kevin Sumlin’s hot seat too much.

Entering the season Texas A&M athletic director Scott Woodward said Sumlin “knows he needs to win and win this year,” so things got nutty after the Aggies blew a 44-10 lead in Week 1 and lost 45-44 to UCLA. That loss prompted an A&M regent to straight up call for Sumlin to lose his job.

Since then, however, the Aggies have reeled off three straight wins (albeit against pretty weak competition). That doesn’t mean folks have moved on from the UCLA debacle.

In an interview with the Texas Tribune, A&M chancellor John Sharp was asked about Sumlin and his job status.

Sharp said he likes Sumlin — “I like Kevin. Nice guy.” — but then was asked about the UCLA game. Watch this exchange:

Q: “You still steamed about UCLA?”

[A few seconds of awkward silence}

A: “Yeah.”

[Laughter]

Q: “Is his job safe?”

A: “I’m not the athletic director.”

That pretty much sums it up.

Sharp, the recently-appointed chairman of the Governor’s Commission to Rebuild Texas in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, is a guy who pays attention to athletics, too. Over the summer, he told Texas Monthly he’d like to see the return of the A&M-Texas rivalry, which came to a halt upon A&M’s move from the Big 12 to the SEC in 2011.

So Sharp pays attention to what the Aggies are doing on the field and did not feel compelled to give Sumlin a vote of confidence. Maybe Sumlin — who is 47-22 (22-19 SEC) at A&M — and the Aggies can turn the tide by continuing to win.

On Saturday, the Aggies have their SEC home opener with South Carolina strolling into Kyle Field. The following week, the Aggies welcome top-ranked Alabama.

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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!