Florida's Jon Sumrall Receives Brutal Reminder From Rival SEC Coach
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Florida Gators head coach Jon Sumrall suggested any member of his family who cheered for Auburn to win Saturday's game would no longer be in it.
"If I do, they're no family to me … Florida pays my mortgage," Sumrall said on Monday. "Any family that's pulling against us ain't my family."
That apparently extends to friendships as well.
During Monday news conference, Auburn head coach Alex Golesh was asked about his alleged friendship with Sumrall. Golesh went tongue in cheek, saying he was no friend to the head coach of Florida.
"He said we were friends?" Golesh said, via tdauburn.com. "Not this week; we're not. I got a ton of respect for Jon. We were both assistants in this league at the same time, and he did a great job at Troy, high end job at Troy, did a high end job at Tulane.
"Got a ton of respect for how he works, A ton of respect for who he is. I think he does it the right way, competes like crazy. I got a lot of respect for him. This week, don't care."
Saturday's contest between Auburn and Florida will be personal between Golesh and Sumrall on multiple levels.
Sumrall appeared to be Auburn's top choice for its next head coach when smoke was still surrounding Lane Kiffin and Florida. When Sumrall landed with the Gartors, Auburn plucked Golesh from USF.
To add insult to injury, Golesh's Bulls defeated Florida 18-16 at The Swamp last season.
With that context in mind, there will be plenty of pride on line when Auburn plays Florida this weekend.
However, the more important goal for both teams is to win the game. Both team are coming into the contest with 2-0 records. A win would be crucial to start SEC play 1-0. That kind of momentum could light the fuse for a College Football Playoff run.
The Tigers are somewhat battle tested, having beaten Baylor 17-16 in Week 1. Florida has beaten FAU and Campbell, and Auburn will be its first test of the new season.
Sumrall has no time for friendship or schadenfreude family this week.
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