Backlash doesn’t bother Buzbee
Regent stands by criticism of Sumlin: ‘I care about our school; I’ll speak however I see fit’
COLLEGE STATION — Thirty-one years ago in East Texas, Tony Buzbee planned to join the Navy out of Queen City High.
“My dad cut meat and my mother drove our school bus,” Buzbee said. “I didn’t have any illusion I was going to college.”
What wasn’t even a fantasy became fantastically real, however, when Texas A&M offered Buzbee a chance at a degree through an ROTC scholarship, and suddenly he was bound for College Station instead of the high seas. Three decades later, the Houstonbased Buzbee is one of the nation’s eminent attorneys, and one ferociously loyal to his alma mater.
That’s only one reason why he says he doesn’t care if anyone
— and he means anyone — criticizes his social media criticism of A&M sixth-year coach Kevin Sumlin, who’s lost his last six games against Power Five opponents dating to last season.
“I attended Texas A&M, I’m an alum,” Buzbee told the Chronicle on Thursday. “I’ve given $7 million to the school — so far. Whenever the coach or administrator who’s not an alum is long gone, I’m still going to be here.”
Buzbee earned national headlines this week after A&M on Sunday blew a 34-point lead and lost 45-44 to UCLA in the Rose Bowl, the second-largest comeback in major college football history.
“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,” Buzbee posted on Facebook, among loads of other scorching opines concerning Sumlin. “In my view he should go now. We owe it to our school and our players. We can do better.”
Plenty of criticism
The likes of broadcaster Kirk Herbstreit (“understand your position and show some class”) and former Auburn coach Gene Chizik (“it’s unprofessional and unfortunate”) claimed that as an A&M board member, Buzbee should keep his thoughts to himself, which Buzbee finds laughable.
“They criticize someone expressing an opinion when that’s all they do all day long,” he said.
Buzbee, 49, added that he has zero regrets about his Facebook post and any resulting backlash. He said the post was calculated and not some kneejerk, postgame reaction.
“Think about the business I’m in,” said Buzbee, who once estimated he’s earned about $400 million for his clients against oil giant British Petroleum (BP) alone. “It’s very politically charged, and with high-profile cases, I’m always criticized. Always. That’s like water on a duck’s back. I don’t focus on that one iota. I try to focus on what I think is the right thing, and everything else will sort itself out.”
Sumlin, who’s preparing the Aggies (0-1) for their home opener against Nicholls State on Saturday, also said he pays no attention to critics, even when they’re one of nine A&M regents.
“I really don’t have time to get involved in things that are said about the program or about me,” Sumlin said. “I’ve just never been that kind of person.”
Buzbee said those who believe regents should huddle among themselves and whisper sentiments don’t understand regency.
“People believe we can all talk behind closed doors about this and that, but that’s not how it works,” he said. “We’re a public body, so we can’t exchange emails and we can’t have private meetings unless they’re posted and people are given notice. Maybe some people don’t like my methods and maybe there are some who do, I don’t know, but I really don’t care.
“What I care about is our school; and I’ll speak however I see fit.”
Two years ago, A&M rebuilt Kyle Field to the tune of a half-billion dollars, and Sumlin is one of the nation’s highest paid coaches at $5 million annually.
‘We want excellence’
The Aggies are 21-19 against SEC competition over the past five seasons, and 2-7 over the past three years against league competition in November.
“We want excellence, and we’re certainly paying the price for it,” said Buzbee, before referencing the last time A&M won (or even played for) a national title. “Let’s not pretend this is 1939. There are a lot of people being paid a lot of money to do a good job, and that wasn’t a good job (against UCLA). If somebody takes offense to that and says that Tony Buzbee doesn’t get to say that, I respectfully disagree.”
After graduating from A&M in 1990, Buzbee entered the Marine Corps and served as an infantry officer in the Persian Gulf and Somalia conflicts, in fulfilling his military pledge.
The Buzbee Leadership Learning Center at A&M is named for him. Confidence isn’t an issue with Buzbee, and he’s confident Texas A&M should compete for SEC titles.
“People don’t hire me to lose, they hire me to win,” Buzbee said. “When you go out and hire a lawyer, you hire the biggest, baddest and meanest, because you want to win.
“The same should be true of any administrative or coaching position. When you’re getting top 10 recruiting classes but yet you routinely don’t do well, what does that tell you? It’s a performance issue.
“Some people say you should give (Sumlin) more time. People can have their opinion. My opinion is we should win.”