One of the biggest moves of the SEC offseason was Texas A&M adding former LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis to take over the Aggies' defense.
Pulling Chavis away from LSU was huge for Texas A&M trying to improve its defense; it also caused controversy as it led to a lawsuit between Chavis and LSU. The timing of the Chavis hiring by Texas A&M and when the deal was struck between the two parties is one of the sticking points of the lawsuit.
Sumlin was asked about the Chavis hire plenty at the 2015 SEC Media Days on Tuesday and had some good thoughts about why he pulled Chavis away from Baton Rouge. When asked if he "kind of" hired Chavis because Texas A&M couldn't beat the LSU defense, Sumlin's response was perfect.
"Not kinda, that's exactly what I did," quipped Sumlin.
However, when he was asked about the timing of calling Chavis and getting the deal done, Sumlin changed his tune from what he had originally said back in January.
Earlier this year, Sumlin's pool boy "broke" the news that Sumlin was on the phone and possibly talking to the future defensive coordinator.
You just lost your job!RT“@mcfarlandrk8: Just cleaned Sumlin's pool. Saw him on the phone, hopefully with our new DC!”
— Kevin Sumlin (@CoachSumlin) December 30, 2014
When asked on ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike back in January whether that was indeed him calling Chavis, he relented that it was the conversation he was having.
Kevin Sumlin says on @MikeAndMike that he was on the phone with John Chavis and he did actually fire his pool boy.
— Sean Lester (@s_lester14) January 7, 2015
That phone call, if the pool boy was correct, would have been right before LSU's bowl game -- and Sumlin seemed to confirm that timing. Now, six months later, Sumlin is denying that he called Chavis prior to the Tigers' bowl game. When asked about it on Tuesday, he simply said, "No, I did not."
It's strange that Sumlin would deny calling Chavis prior to the bowl game now after he confirmed the pool boy's report back in January. Chavis never went back to Baton Rouge after the bowl game, instead going directly to his home in Knoxville and then College Station later that week.
Now, because timing is so important to the Chavis lawsuit over what LSU owes him, this might be related to that -- which Sumlin said at SEC Media Days was not a distraction in anyway to him, Chavis or the team. Whatever the reason, Sumlin's story has changed from January to now.
