Kevin Sumlin spends little time talking about Johnny Manziel during Dallas visit

Published Jul. 19, 2013 10:56 p.m. ET

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Kevin Sumlin was in Dallas Thursday night, talking to Texas A&M fans about the upcoming season.

When the second-year Aggie football coach took the stage to cap the four-hour event at Gilley’s Dallas, he seemed to be trying to avoid discussing a certain Heisman Trophy-winning player on his roster.

Sumlin went 13 minutes before even mentioning the position that Johnny Manziel plays, eventually saying: “At quarterback, we’re gonna be alright.”

The sold-out venue erupted with laughter.

“You want me to evaluate that? I think we’re OK there,” he added.

Sumlin later explained that he didn’t spend much time talking about Manziel because the sophomore quarterback had been discussed at great length earlier in the week at SEC Media Days.

“We’ve sat down and talked about where he needs to be, what he wants to accomplish, what we want him to accomplish and how he can get better as a player,” Sumlin said. “Johnny’s extremely hard on himself. He’s a great competitor. He wants to be the best.”

One of the funniest moments of the night came during the question-and-answer session when a 10-year-old boy offered to be Manziel’s chaperone.

“Appreciate that,” Sumlin replied. “That’s what the Aggie network is all about.”

Follow Jon Machota on Twitter: @jonmachota