Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin could be coaching his final game for the Aggies on Saturday night at LSU.
Hasn't it felt that way all season?
Sumlin began his sixth football season in College Station atop multiple national "hot seat" charts, which was the result of his fifth Aggies team losing five of their last seven games following a 6-0 start that briefly placed them among the top four teams in the playoff rankings. Texas A&M athletic director Scott Woodward told the SEC Network in May that Sumlin "knows he has to win" and that he "has to do better than he has done in the past."
The Aggies entered this season with three consecutive 8-5 records and could be headed for a fourth, having improved to 7-4 last Saturday with a 31-24 win at Ole Miss.
"I don't know that this season has been more difficult," Sumlin said. "Every year has its challenges. I think it's all about your approach, and whether things are going great or not going so well, I think your approach is what matters.
"You know what you signed up for, and it's probably more difficult on families than it is on coaches, because you're involved in it and you're working. It probably affects those on the outside more."
The Aggies opened their 2017 season on national television at UCLA and looked impressive in building a 44-10 lead late in the third quarter, but they lost starting quarterback Nick Starkel to a broken ankle and buckled, yielding the final 35 points of a 45-44 defeat. After a lackluster 24-14 home victory the following week over Nicholls, Sumlin addressed a letter that had been sent to his residence containing a racial slur.
His wife, Charlene, had posted the letter on social media a couple of days earlier.
"I get criticism, which is part of the job," Sumlin said in a news conference. "I get suggestions, and that's part of the job. In this situation, for that to come to my home and for her to open it and read that, that is completely different. My wife and kids have never called a play.
"My wife and kids have never done anything football-wise that led to us losing a game or winning a game."
While the opening-game collapse and the hateful letter that ensued each made headlines, the Aggies steadily improved. They gave Alabama its stiffest challenge in the first half of the season before succumbing 27-19, won at Florida before the Gators started spiraling and topped a South Carolina team that is now 8-3.
The three setbacks since the UCLA game have been against the ranked trio of Alabama, Auburn and Mississippi State, but it's the fact Texas A&M isn't ranked that could factor into Sumlin's ultimate dismissal.
Sumlin is 51-25 overall and 25-22 in SEC play, with only Alabama, LSU and Georgia having won more overall games during the same stretch within the league. Yet he is 40-23 overall and only 19-20 in league contests since Texas A&M's dazzling debut in the conference in 2012.
Texas A&M's 2012 team defeated Alabama in Tuscaloosa, routed Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl and produced Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel. Sumlin's four teams since have played in the Chick-fil-A, Liberty, Music City and Texas bowls, and they haven't finished higher than fourth in the SEC West.
"I will personally say that there is not another college football coach I would rather play for in the whole, entire country," Aggies standout receiver and return specialist Christian Kirk said in a recent news conference. "Coach Sumlin has given so many dudes opportunities to come here and make their dreams come true. He's been the same dude since he came in that December and sat in my living room and told my parents how I was going to be treated and what was going to happen.
"Everything he said has happened. He stayed true to his word. I can't thank him enough for that. To go to war for a guy like that makes it that much more special."
Sumlin is still an SEC head coach, which can't be said for Jim McElwain at Florida or for Butch Jones at Tennessee. It also can't be said for the coach who topped him on Labor Day weekend, with UCLA removing Jim Mora this past Sunday.
Perhaps Woodward already has Sumlin's successor in mind and is just waiting until the end of the regular season to make a move. Perhaps some of the potential candidates can't match the 86-42 record or the eight bowl games in nine years Sumlin has produced guiding the Aggies and the Houston Cougars before that.
An upset of LSU would give Texas A&M a 3-1 mark in November and would enhance Sumlin's chances of staying put, provided a decision has yet to be made.
Whatever transpires in the days ahead, Sumlin has positioned himself with this season to be a more attractive candidate elsewhere compared to other coaches who have been let go in recent days. Texas A&M may not be Alabama or Auburn this season, but the Aggies haven't been Florida or Tennessee, either.
Sumlin was asked Tuesday in his weekly news conference if he expected to be back next season.
"Why wouldn't I?" he responded. "I came here to Texas A&M to win football games. What we do and how we've done it has been the right way, and it will continue to be the right way."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.