While Texas A&M fans certainly enjoyed the offensive bounce back that the program has undergone over the past two years under the tutelage of former Aggie OC Collin Klein, the circumstances of his departure for Kansas State left a bitter taste in the mouths of many. The announcement of his hire was made well before the Aggies played their first-round game against Miami, and so the poor offensive showing by Texas A&M in that game stuck out like a sore thumb.
While many fans tend to simply lash out whenever a bad loss like this happens, it was more than just that group that levied some blame at Klein after this game. Coverage-wise, Miami didn't do anything different than Missouri or Texas had done, and yet Marcel Reed looked unprepared for what he was seeing— something that comes back to his quarterback coach, who at that point was Klein.
Though most of that talk had died down over the past few months— the Aggies have moved on and are excited for the future with Holmon Wiggins— it just all got stirred up again after some comments that Klein made at Big 12 Media Days. One quip in particular has Aggie fans feeling like Klein basically just confirmed that his head was not fully in the game when preparing for Texas A&M's most pivotal moment since joining the SEC.
Bitterness reawakened in Texas A&M fans after Collin Klein's comments at Big 12 Media Days
Here's what Klein said in an interview with ESPN about his waning days in College Station and beginning days in Manhattan:
Former Texas A&M OC Collin Klein at Big 12 Media Days on the adjustment as a first-time head coach
— Tyler Shaw (@TylerShawSports) July 8, 2026
"I don't think even as much as you walk yourself through it mentally, you really even understand until your boots are on the ground and you're in it." pic.twitter.com/0vlAFAU3oA
"I don't think even as much as you walk yourself through it mentally, you really even understand until your boots are on the ground and you're in it— and then going through the playoff game with Texas A&M... It was an absolute whirlwind."Collin Klein
This is obviously a perplexing sentiment for Texas A&M fans to hear. You can bet that there was no part of the Miami staff that had their attention elsewhere during their playoff run— their entire focus was on the game against Texas A&M in the leadup to the showdown at Kyle Field.
And yet, for the Aggies, one of their most important coaches had a foot in two worlds, and even now, months after the fact, he's talking about just how difficult it was to manage. Combine that with the fact that Klein's offense was the clear Achilles Heel for the Aggies in that game against Miami— Texas A&M held the Canes to their lowest point total all season, after all, with the next lowest being two times what the Aggies allowed— and this is enough to make some Texas A&M fans pretty mad.
It's really no use to make too much out of this at this point— what happened happened, and the Aggies and Kansas State are both moving forward. However, it can't but bother a lot of Aggie fans to think that, had the timing been just a little bit different for this hire, that it could have been A&M on the national title game run rather than the Hurricanes.
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