Florida: Jon Sumrall Had Initial Uncertainly About Gators' Job
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
Amid leading the Tulane Green Wave to the College Football Playoff last season, Jon Sumrall quickly rose in the head coaching market.
Sumrall was heavily linked to Auburn while the Florida Gators were targeting Lane Kiffin, then leading Ole Miss to a CFP run.
Eventually, Kiffin became the top target for LSU after Brian Kelly was fired, and Florida was soon swooning for Sumrall in one of the more wild coaching carousels to date.
During an appearance on "College Sports on SiriusXM" this week, Sumrall admitted that he had initial uncertainty that the Gators would hire him despite believing the interview went well over Zoom.
“Like I do a Zoom … and get home later that night, and walk in the house–my wife, all the kids are in bed," Sumrall said, via a transcription from On3. "My wife’s barely awake, and she goes, ‘Hey, didn’t you have a call today with Florida?’
And I said, ‘Yeah.’ And she goes. ‘How’d it go?’ I said, 'It went great. Like I killed it. Like I dominated.’ And she goes, ‘That’s awesome. That would be such a cool job.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, they’re not going to hire me.'"
Florida did hire Sumrall, allowing him to coach Tulane in the CFP before going full-time with the Gators. Sumrall was stunned that a prestigious program like Florida hired him, noting that the history of the team is one of the best in college football.
“I’m so blessed to sit in one of the jobs that my whole life, you know … 1993, I sat in the South End Zone in Legion Field and watched the SEC championship game," Sumrall said.
"It’s the Florida freaking Gators, you know? And so for me, this is like one of those jobs that when they kept going, I’m like, “Oh, this could be real.”
The job will become even more real when Florida hosts FL Atlantic on Sept. 5. The Gators will have two tune-up games to get ready before SEC action starts on the road against Auburn, the team that showed interest in Sumrall before Florida, on Sept. 19.
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos