Florida HC Jon Sumrall Made Big Change to His Coaching Approach

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Jon Sumrall has learned a few tricks now that he is going into his fifth season as a college football head coach and his first with the Florida Gators.

Sumrall had immediate success in his first seasons with Troy and Tulane, winning 12 games with the Trojans and nine games with the Green Wave.

With the benefit of hindsight, Sumrall thinks the transition for Florida this season can be smooth. During his news conference on Wednesday, Sumrall told reporters that he's changed his coaching approach over time, giving his staff more responsibility.

"The biggest change I've made is I've probably, from year one to year five (is to) delegate a touch more, or quite a bit more, to be quite honest," Sumrall said, via USA Today. "My first year as a head coach, I probably micromanaged everybody to a fault, because I wanted everything to just be absolutely perfect.

"Now I still want us to chase perfection, but I think, as you grow and you understand, you have to hire great people and let them do their jobs. It's my job to hold everybody to the highest standard and extremely accountable for how we do things."

Sumrall said he was so focused on coaching the defense and special teams in his first season at Troy that he hardly made meetings for the offensive side of the ball. Now, he's "dialed into" what all groups are doing at practice.

Florida gave Sumrall abundant resources to hire a quality staff, and that makes it easier for the new head coach to delegate with confidence. Sumrall still makes sure everyone is on the same page, but he's not micromanaging his coaches to the point they're afraid to do their jobs.

"I think just trusting people to do their job well and then, when it's maybe not meeting the standard we need, then calling it out — but not holding their hand all the time," Sumrall said.

Florida will demand more executive duties from Sumrall than what he dealt with at Tulane and Troy. How his coaches handle their responsibilities will be crucial for the Gators' success this season.

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