How Jon Sumrall plans to bring back glory days of Florida football offense

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Jon Sumrall came of age watching college football in the 1990s.

Growing up in Huntsville, Alabama, Sumrall turned on the TV and saw Steve Spurrier and Florida football lighting up the scoreboard with their Fun ‘N Gun offense.

That might explain why when the new UF coach thinks of the Gators, he thinks of an explosive offense.

Under Billy Napier, the offense was anything but explosive and fun. Florida ranked No. 13 in the SEC in total yards and passing yards per game. In points per game? Dead last at 21.6.

The numbers throughout Napier’s four years in Gainesville weren’t much better. Sumrall knows it is an issue that needs fixing and said so with Spurrier, Danny Wuerffel and Urban Meyer at his introductory press conference Monday.

How will Jon Sumrall change Florida football’s offense?

“I think about stretching the field and threatening every blade of grass. It all starts with the quarterback and the pieces around him. We’ll get elite skill players here, we’ve got some already; we’ve got to keep them.” Sumerall said. “Our O-line has to play with a demeanor that’s nasty and that is a force to be reckoned with, and that’ll happen.”

Many of Florida’s top offensive players sat in the press conference — including QB DJ Lagway, RB Jadan Baugh and WRs Dallas Wilson and Vernell Brown III. Sumrall praised them, especially Baugh after his 266 yard game Saturday vs. FSU.

“I watched that game Saturday before I went and played Saturday, and I’m like, hey, can I give the ball to No. 13 ten more times because if an offensive coordinator doesn’t know what to do, that’s a pretty good choice,” Sumrall said.

Napier served as play-caller during his time as coach. Many fans thought the former coach underutilized Baugh. That’ll likely change under Sumrall. His offenses tend to be run-heavy. This season at Tulane will be his first without a 1,000-yard rusher. His QB — Jake Retzleff — has over 500 rush yards.

Wuerffel sat in on all interviews with coaches, and Sumrall made his love of offensive firepower clear to the legendary QB.

“He said, ‘I understand the Florida brand. We want to be explosive. We want to score a lot of points,”’ Wuerffel said. “The offensive coordinators he’s looking at are really exciting for me to hear.”

Sumrall won’t hire his friends

The hiring of an offensive coordinator is one of Sumrall’s first priorities in Gainesville as he’s a defensive coach. His OC at Tulane — Joe Craddock — helped turn the Green Wave and Troy before into one of the top offenses in the Sun Belt and American Conference.

Craddock is an option to come to Gainesville, but new general manager Dave Caldwell holds connections elsewhere he might take advantage of. Sumrall said he doesn’t hire his friends.

“When I walk into a new place, the first thing I do is I assess what’s there. There will be some folks that stay. Then I may bring a few that have been around me,” Sumrall said. “There’s going to be some people that haven’t been here and haven’t been with me that need to be added to help us get the best group of people together to win championships and serve our players.”

Who could be the Gators next OC?

Two names in contention are Pittsburgh OC Kade Bell and Tennessee OC Joey Halzle.

Bell is a name familiar to Gator fans as the son of Kerwin Bell — 1984 SEC Player of the Year and Florida QB from 1984-1987.

He left his father at Western Carolina in 2023 to become Pitt’s OC. He’s transformed the Panther offense into one that ranked in the top 45 nationally in yards per game in 2024 and in the top 20 in points per game this season.

Halzle has been tied at the hip to Josh Heupel for the last 17 years. The 39-year-old turned the Volunteers into the SEC’s top offense in 2025 and a top 10 offense nationally.

Two other names discussed are former West Virginia coach Neal Brown — although he’s been linked to the North Texas head coaching job — and Brian Daboll.

Daboll, who was fired as New York Giants head coach on November 10, would be a favorite among fans. He made the playoffs in New York and, prior to that, turned Josh Allen into one of the NFL’s top QBs as Buffalo Bills Offensive Coordinator.

At the college level, he won a national title as Alabama’s OC in 2017.

Daboll’s hiring seems unlikely, though he was a high school teammate of Caldwell at Buffalo’s Saint Francis High School.

Noah Ram covers Florida Gators athletics and Gainesville-area high school sports for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him at nram@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Noah_ram1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Jon Sumrall looks to rebuild lackluster Florida football offense

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