A&M coach Sumlin receives racist and threatening letter
HOUSTON (AP) Texas A&M and law enforcement officials were investigating Thursday night after football coach Kevin Sumlin received a racist and threatening letter at his home.
His wife, Charlene Sumlin, posted a picture of the letter , which had a return address in Houston, on Twitter on Thursday night. The handwritten letter read: ''You suck as a coach! You're a (racial epithet) and can't win! Please get lost! Or else.''
On the post Charlene added: ''People of 2017: please tell me how any part of this is OK? And to the sender: did it occur to you that a child may open it?'' At the end of the post she added the hashtag orelseWHAT?
Later on Thursday night Texas A&M President Michael Young and athletic director Scott Woodward issued a joint statement condemning the letter and adding that they are: ''working with law enforcement authorities to bring the sender of this letter to justice.''
The statement said that they were doing everything they can to ensure the safety of Sumlin and his family.
''There is no excuse for hatred and, as a community. We will not allow the ignorance of some to intimidate any member of our community,'' the statement continued.
On Sunday night in Los Angeles, Texas A&M squandered a 34-point third-quarter lead in a season-opening loss to UCLA. That loss led to waves of criticism directed at the coach. Noteworthy among those critics was university system regent Tony Buzbee, who took to Facebook to express his displeasure with Sumlin.
''Our players were better tonight,'' Buzbee, a Houston attorney wrote Sunday night after the stunning loss. ''Our players were more talented tonight. But coaches were dominated on national TV, yet again. I'm only one vote on the Board of Regents but when the time comes my vote will be that Kevin Sumlin needs to GO. In my view he should go now. We owe it to our school and our players. We can do better.''
The Aggies will host Nicholls State on Saturday night.
The 53-year-old Sumlin, the first black head football coach at A&M, has three years and $15 million left on his contract that runs through the 2019 season.
---
More AP college football: http://collegefootball.ap.org and https://www.twitter.com/AP-Top25
-
2025 NFL mock draft: Who are next year's top players — and how many QBs go high?
2024 NFL Draft grades: Analyzing all 32 teams' classes; Who gets top marks?
Shedeur Sanders comes to Deion Sanders' defense after recent Colorado criticism
-
Current players will reportedly be featured on covers of 'EA Sports College Football 25'
2024 college football transfer portal tracker: Former Nick Saban recruit leaving Alabama
Deion Sanders not planning to follow sons to NFL, has 'work to do' at Colorado
-
2025 NFL Draft odds: Shedeur Sanders favored to go No. 1
2024 NFL Draft RB rankings: No clear stars, but deep top 10 prospects
Zak Zinter, Michael Hall go from 'enemies in college' to 'brothers now' with Browns
-
2025 NFL mock draft: Who are next year's top players — and how many QBs go high?
2024 NFL Draft grades: Analyzing all 32 teams' classes; Who gets top marks?
Shedeur Sanders comes to Deion Sanders' defense after recent Colorado criticism
-
Current players will reportedly be featured on covers of 'EA Sports College Football 25'
2024 college football transfer portal tracker: Former Nick Saban recruit leaving Alabama
Deion Sanders not planning to follow sons to NFL, has 'work to do' at Colorado
-
2025 NFL Draft odds: Shedeur Sanders favored to go No. 1
2024 NFL Draft RB rankings: No clear stars, but deep top 10 prospects
Zak Zinter, Michael Hall go from 'enemies in college' to 'brothers now' with Browns