Jon Sumrall Is Back in the SEC. Can He Bring the Florida Gators Back to Glory?
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Jon Sumrall sat down with his wife, Ginny, and made clear his intention to stay at Tulane, coaching the Green Wave as long as they would have him. He wasn’t leaving for just another job. Unless, Sumrall said, one of a select few schools came calling.
Which jobs? You can probably imagine the short list of openings that might pique the interest of an Alabama native and former Kentucky linebacker who grew up idolizing the SEC. A few of them opened up in the most recent coaching cycle. LSU and Auburn had vacancies to fill, not to mention Sumrall’s alma mater.
“But when the University of Florida called, that’s one of the ones we had discussed where I was like, ‘If I could get the Florida job, that would be one,’” Sumrall told Athlon Sports earlier this week. “And I can remember being a visiting player here in 2004 and thinking, ‘Man, this place is special. There’s nothing like it.’”
Fast forward a few months, and Sumrall is in the midst of his first spring in Gainesville as the Gators’ head coach. He’s the latest man tasked with getting Florida back to the “Gator Standard” that’s been absent — save for rare flashes — since Urban Meyer left in 2010.
Sumrall’s hire was announced on Nov. 30, marking the end of a drawn-out process that included serious flirtation with former Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin. But Florida didn’t get all of Sumrall until almost three weeks later, after Tulane was eliminated in the College Football Playoff, ironically, by the Rebels, who were coached by Pete Golding after Kiffin left for LSU at the end of the regular season.
Until then, 43-year-old Sumrall was carrying out the taxing task of coaching the Green Wave while laying the groundwork for the Gators.
I’ve got 2 Phones, 2 Jobs & 2 hours of sleep#GoGators🐊 #RollWavepic.twitter.com/sAJMkThNng
— Jon Sumrall (@CoachJonSumrall) December 9, 2025
No longer darting back and forth between New Orleans and Gainesville, Sumrall has had some time to look under the hood of the once-proud program. Although he was disappointed in the standard of work in the weight room, he was pleased with the state of Florida’s facilities and the support staff, many of whom are holdovers from the previous regime. And he knew the roster, though in flux, had foundational players he could build around.
“I think the most important thing you do when you walk into a place, brand new, is try to keep the guys there that fit what you want to do moving forward,” Sumrall said.
Running back Jadan Baugh, wide receivers Dallas Wilson and Vernell Brown III, linebacker Myles Graham and edge-rusher Jayden Woods were the priority targets to retain. Woods, an All-SEC freshman selection, put his name in the transfer portal. And though Baugh, the No. 3 rusher in the conference in 2025, never entered the portal, Sumrall joked that it felt like he did, the way other teams were jockeying for his services.
“We were fighting to show them what it was gonna look like if they stayed,” Sumrall said.
All five players elected to return, a coup for Florida, especially after Sumrall saw his 2025 Tulane team pillaged by power conference teams in the portal. Sumrall said retention is the most important aspect of roster building from the outset. After that, it’s about supplementing with top high school prospects and players in the portal to address areas of need.
One of those areas was quarterback. DJ Lagway’s departure left an opening under center. Tramell Jones Jr., who saw limited action behind Lagway as a true freshman, stayed in Gainesville to compete for the starting job. Also in the mix is transfer Aaron Philo, who followed Buster Faulkner, the Gators’ new offensive coordinator, from Georgia Tech.
“Whether you’re a returning player or a new player, everybody is new to what we’re asking of them,” Sumrall said.
He wouldn’t tip his hand on a frontrunner for the QB1 job. Instead, he sang both players’ praises.
“Aaron’s got familiarity with the system,” Sumrall said. “But he’s a talented guy. He can make all the throws. He’s making good decisions. And Tramell’s a really good, young, talented player. Those guys are both putting in the work to elevate their game.”
Sumrall lauded Faulkner’s adaptability as a play-caller. Faulkner got his start in an air-raid offense at Valdosta State, worked in a pro-style offense at Georgia and pivoted again when he had a mobile quarterback at Georgia Tech. Though they have never worked together before, Sumrall has known Faulkner for some time and studied his offenses from afar.
“You’re talking about a guy who builds the system around the players, doesn’t ask the players to fit the system,” Sumrall said. “And he’s going to put them in positions to be successful.”
Philo isn’t the only Yellow Jacket who followed Faulkner down I-75 from Atlanta to Gainesville. Offensive lineman Harrison Moore, tight end Luke Harping and wide receiver Bailey Stockton all did the same. And wide Eric Singleton Jr., who transferred to Auburn from Georgia Tech last offseason, elected to reunite with his former coordinator, too.
Some recent coaches who have made the transition from the Group of Six to the Power Four have brought large chunks of their rosters with them. Curt Cignetti’s first two Indiana teams — including the one that won the national championship — were rife with James Madison players. In this cycle, Eric Morris seemingly brought half of his North Texas team to Oklahoma State. Former South Florida coach Alex Golesh employed a similar strategy at Auburn.
Sumrall brings over just two Green Wave players: punter Alec Clark and kicker Patrick Durkin. They were both part of Tulane’s American Conference championship team last season, the one that won 11 games and mreached the CFP.
“I’ve been fortunate to be a part of some success the last several years, as the head coach,” Sumall said. “But the only way that you create those types of opportunities for yourself is by working extremely hard and being ridiculously urgent and detailed in everything you do.”
Sumrall’s record speaks for itself. He’s 43-12 across four seasons as a head coach with three conference championships. Gators fans are also painfully aware that the level he succeeded at — the American and Sun Belt — is decidedly not the SEC.
That’s the tier of competition Sumrall has long aspired to return to. And now he has one of the few jobs he was willing to leave success and sustainability at Tulane to try his hand at.
“The holistic approach of why the University of Florida was really, really easy for me,” Sumrall said, “because I’m like, ‘Man, it’s excellence, it’s high standards, it’s championship expectations.’”
Expectations is the operative word there. The Gators last won a football national title in 2008. That’s also the last time they won the SEC. Florida’s last four coaches haven’t made it to their fifth season before being fired. But the Gators are betting that Sumrall’s passion and fresh approach can break that cycle in The Swamp.
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This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Apr 2, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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