By JOHN KLEIN Sr. Sports Columnist on Jan 2, 2013, at 11:06 AM Updated on 1/02 at 11:06 AM
KLEIN'S KORNER
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Texas A&M is one of those schools that many keep expecting to become a national college football power.
The Aggies are located in the middle of one of the top three states for high school football talent (along with Florida and California).
It is a huge school less than two hours from Houston, considered by some the best pool of high school football talent in the country.
Texas A&M has good history, great facilities and seemingly unending resources for football.
As a result, most of the necessary components seem to be in place.
There’s a reason why Kevin Sumlin jumped at the chance to move to A&M from Houston, where he had established the Cougars as the Conference USA team to beat.
"One year does not a program make," said Sumlin. "We made some real strides this year. It has helped us from a recruiting standpoint. It has helped us from an exposure standpoint. Without a doubt, this has helped us.
"To get back on the national stage, you have to be able to sustain a program. One of the reasons I came to Texas A&M was because of that. I think you have to have the right couple or three things to do that. It is hard to get. Obviously, Oklahoma has been able to do that for the last 14 years. We are in the early stages or that. We have to increase the profile of our team and we have to increase our talent level if that is where we want to be."
Winning 10 games in A&M’s first season in the Southeastern Conference and having the Heisman winner at quarterback will certainly raise your profile.
"We need to get back to the national stage," said Sumlin. "That is where we need to be. I wouldn’t have come to Texas A&M if I didn’t think that was possible.
"I think we have the resources, the support and a lot of different things in place."
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