Johnny Manziel is ready to get back to being Johnny Football.
``He got back in here the other day, he just said, `Hey, coach, I'm ready to play some football.' He's through with all that,'' Aggies coach Kevin Sumlin said Wednesday.
``He can get back to just being with his teammates and practicing,'' the coach said during a conference call featuring the Cotton Bowl coaches. ``Just talking with him yesterday, he looks excited to just be off the circuit, be back in the huddle calling plays.''
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said preparing to face Manziel presents unique challenges.
``Unique in that he's the leading rusher. It makes it really difficult. He throws the ball so well, throws it so well on the run,'' Stoops said. ``But he's one of those guys, maybe sometimes the worst thing you can do is cover everybody because there he goes. He just has a great knack, an instinct for avoiding pressure and creating plays.''
Manziel had 4,600 yards of total offense in 12 games to break the SEC record set two years earlier by Heisman winner Cam Newton, who needed 14 games to gain 4,327 yards. Manziel became the first freshman, first player in the SEC and the fifth player overall with 3,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing in the same season.
Along with the Heisman Trophy, Manziel was named The Associated Press Player of the Year, the SEC's top player and the winner of the Davey O'Brien Award that goes to the nation's top quarterback.
All of this for a kid who just turned 20 years old two weeks ago.
Sumlin said he has had a conversation with his young quarterback about handling things moving forward, and the fact that he's just getting started.
``People are asking, What are you going to do now? With success, there comes other things,'' Sumlin said. ``I think we've got a lot of the things in place here to help him, which really helped him through the process originally, and we've got a lot of things in place that are going to continue to help him handle a lot of these things. ... I think you can see he's pretty mature for a 20 year old.''
Without being specific, Sumlin said the Aggies would help Manziel through that process.
``But, like I said, shoot, he's happy to be back here in the building,'' Sumlin said. ``Sitting in meetings, watching video.''
