After its establishment in 1905, Kyle Field underwent numerous modifications and adaptations. By 1910, the likes of Charlie Moran had begun to link the sod of Professor E. J. Kyle's old vegetable patch to football greatness. The records in the University Archives for this period are at best spotty, giving only brief but fascinating glances back in time.  For example, the Bryan Eagle reported in November, 1915 that work on new bleachers had been completed. With 6,800 comfortable seats, all was in readiness for the game with the University of Texas. According to the newspaper's description, the "field is completely surrounded like the larger bowls of the East with well constructed bleachers. Two rows of temporary boxes and a row of movable bleachers at the end of the field constitute the only temporary structures.  "Before the new construction, the stands accommodated 1,200. The new bleachers could seat 4,500 and had concrete foundations with uprights constructed of six-by-six timbers. Seat backs were provided for each row and there was plenty of foot space. A&M beat its archrival 13-0 and the future seemed bright indeed. Never mind that debt plagued the department and future funding was uncertain.

  Not long after this, events began to unfold that would create lingering confusion and controversy. From the field's creation in 1905 until the end of World War I, there had been no real plans for development. Shortly after the war ended in 1918, a group of former students launched an effort to construct a memorial library and a new stadium to honor the 53 Texas A&M men who perished in the Great War.  They envisioned a stadium with a large room to house photographs and biographies of the school's war dead. Although some funds were collected, drawings of the proposed Alumni Memorial Stadium widely circulated and a cornerstone carved, the project never really got off the ground. 

While the exact cause of the failure is unknown, the depression in Texas agriculture, combined with the turbulence of the 1920's, undoubtedly played a role. When the college finally completed its first concrete stadium in 1929, the perception of Kyle Field as a World War I memorial somehow stuck and persists to this day, although nothing official was ever enacted.
   In the end, credit for getting this first phase of the present Kyle Field built goes to James "Sully" Sullivan, the athletic Department business manager. When Sullivan took over the business affairs of the department in 1920, he found it $17,000 in debt, with no plans to expand either facilities or programs. For the next nine years he worked tirelessly to make Texas A&M's athletic plant the very best possible.

     In 1923, Sullivan managed to erect twenty rows of steel bleachers on the west side between the twenty yard lines. This increased seating to 8,500, still not adequate for big games such as the Thanksgiving tilt with the University of Texas. Like Professor Kyle, Sullivan recognized that any real increase in funding would have to come from increased ticket sales and the only way to sell more tickets was to build a larger more permanent stadium. "Sully" Sullivan proved to be just the man to get it done.