HOOVER, Ala. — So … where’s Johnny?

Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin could dodge the question all he wanted, but he could not ignore the 600-pound gorilla that was not in the room when Sumlin took to the podium at SEC Media Days Tuesday.

In a way, it was suggested, Texas A&M’s debut for the rigors of SEC football would actually be this year.

Having Johnny Manziel at your beck and call for the first two years might have given Sumlin and the Aggies an unexpected and perhaps misleading advantage.

First question: “What is it like NOT coaching Johnny Manziel?”

The third question concerned how Manziel, the Justin Bieber of this affair a year ago, has kept the tabloids and A-list celeb parties busy since being drafted in the NFL’s first round.

“Isn’t this SEC Media Days?” Sumlin said. “No. That’s a great question for the Cleveland Browns. Anybody else got something?”

Not much, actually.

But gradually the Aggies’ plan for life after Johnny Football emerged. Manziel, a Heisman winner and, for two years, college’s football’s most electrifying player, may have covered up a lot of weaknesses.

But his on-field antics also bought the Aggies enough time to recruit and build facilities, to change the culture, mainly to get closer to specs with the rest of the SEC.

“I’m understanding a little bit more about the culture, about the recruiting process, the facilities and the level of play.”

The closest thing to a one-man team you’re likely to see surprised doubters by going 11-2 in its first SEC season — including handing national champion Alabama its only loss — and 9-4 last year.

It was, Sumlin said, “perfect timing” for the Aggies, who have parlayed SEC membership and the unexpected, Manziel-fueled success to become the dominant recruiting force in the fertile state of Texas. The Texas Longhorns no longer get to pick and choose.

“Moving to the SEC is one thing,” Sumlin said of two straight top 10-ranked recruiting classes. “But if we had got our brains beat in, I don’t think recruiting would be going as well. You’ve got to come in this league and compete.”

But he smiled at the notion that two years is enough.

Aggie boosters were excited, he said, after the first year when A&M’s recruiting class “ranked 10th nationally, ninth, whatever it was. I go down to press conference and (find out) we’re fourth in our league, only third in our division.”

“For us to be where we need to be, we need to be talented, but we need to increase our depth … we’re going to have to do that.”

Strange, perhaps, coming from a coach who had three of his players drafted in the first round last May — Manziel, wide receiver Mike Evans and offensive tackle Jake Matthews.

“But we didn’t have another guy get drafted,” he noted. “You look at the top of our league, LSU, Alabama, have nine and eight.”

The Aggies have also joined the SEC arms race, building apace to catch up on facilities.

Most notable is a $400 million renovation/expansion of Kyle Field that will make it a state-of-the-art 102,000-seat palace with college football’s largest video screen.

Part of it will be evident this season, with the Aggies hoping it’s completely finished for the 2015 season.

“For those of you who have seen the pictures, they don’t do it justice,” Sumlin said. “It’s going to be an unbelievable facility.”

And replacing Manziel?

Sumlin said up front that he wasn’t prepared to announce the replacement — as if there could be one.

“I understand there’s not going to be another Johnny Manziel, the way he played the game,” Sumlin said.

But it should help that while Manziel was doing his thing, Sumlin recruited the Gatorade Player of the Year in Texas last year (Kenny Hill) and the nation’s top-rated high school quarterback (Kyle Allen).

“I think we’ve laid the groundwork in recruiting to still be successful,” Sumlin said.(American Press Archives)

Karen Warren