Sadly, the extended family of Texas A&M football sustained a very significant loss over the weekend.
A&M confirmed Monday that the father of Aggies head coach Kevin Sumlin, William Sumlin, passed away Sunday evening. The university did not detail the cause of death of the 81-year-old elder Sumlin.
William Sumlin was a football, baseball and basketball coach in Alabama and then Indiana, and would later become a high school principal In 2007, Kevin Sumlin became the first black head coach at a major college in Texas; five years later, he became the first black head coach at A&M.
Given his roots in the Deep South, the significance of his son’s rise in the coaching profession wasn’t lost on the father.
“Oh my goodness, it’s just unbelievable,” the elder Sumlin said in a 2012 interview with the Dallas Morning News. “Because of where I came from, I never thought I would see this. Sometimes I look around and can’t believe it’s happening.”William “Bill” Sumlin, in 2012, about son Kevin. pic.twitter.com/q3DrFih221
— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) March 7, 2016
A&M is in the midst of spring practice, but obviously Sumlin will not be leading it as he’s back in Indianapolis tending to his family’s affairs. It’s unclear when Sumlin will return to College Station to reassume the head-coaching reins.
Our thoughts, prayers and condolences go out to Sumlin and his family on their loss.
