Florida Gators HC Jon Sumrall Fires Open Jab at LSU's Lane Kiffin

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The Florida Gators are entering a new era under head coach Jon Sumrall. Gone are the days of extreme frustration with Billy Napier. Sumrall offers a fresh start and a new chapter.

Sumrall is coming off of a wildly successful tenure with the Tulane Green Wave. In two seasons, he led the team to a 20-8 overall record.

After going 9-5 in his first season with the Green Wave, Sumrall rebounded with an 11-3 record in 2025 and led Tulane to the College Football Playoff. Unfortunately, they lost in that first-round matchup against Ole Miss.

Before becoming the head coach of the Green Wave, Sumrall was the head coach at Troy. In two seasons with the Trojans, he led the program to a 23-4 record.

At SEC media day, Sumrall made some very strong comments. One of those comments was directed at fellow SEC head coach Lane Kiffin, who left Ole Miss to become the new head coach of the LSU Tigers following their dismissal of Brian Kelly.

Of course, the Kiffin saga was a long ordeal. He ended up leaving the Rebels just before the College Football Playoff and did not coach Ole Miss during that playoff run.

With that being said, Sumrall took his opportunity to taken an open jab at Kiffin.

"Lane said we're going through the same thing. I said no we're not. You're leaving an SEC school. I'm leaving Tulane," Sumrall said. "If any university said I couldn't coach in the playoff, I don't think I would have taken the job."

Kiffin caught a lot of criticism for leaving his team ahead of the playoff. Thankfully, the Rebels were able to move quickly to name Pete Golding their interim head coach. Golding has since gone on to earn the full-time coaching job at Ole Miss.

While Florida will not be playing LSU this season, there is clearly an early rivalry forming between the two SEC head coaches.

Now, the question becomes, can Sumrall lead the Gators back to National Championship contention? Florida football is a proud program that has been losing for far too long. Sumrall will be facing a lot of pressure in his new job.

At the very least, fans are going to like the personality that Sumrall brings to the sideline. Just looking at these comments about Kiffin at SEC media day, the Gators are in for a very entertaining ride with their new head coach.

Florida is scheduled to open up the 2026 college football season with a matchup home matchup against Florida Atlantic on September 5. The season can't get here soon enough.

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