How new Florida football coach Jon Sumrall addressed Lane Kiffin soap opera

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New Florida football coach Jon Sumrall wasted no time addressing the giant elephant inside Florida’s Heavener Football Center.

The former Tulane coach began his introductory press conference on Monday, Dec. 1, by referencing former Ole Miss and current LSU football coach Lane Kiffin.

“I do want to be very direct on one thing, and you may or may not appreciate this, but Lane Kiffin and I have been going through the same thing. We’ve talked a lot,” Sumrall said. “We were both in agreement that I was the right man for this job. He co-signed on that. Lane is a dear friend, and I have to poke a little fun at him.”

There were some laughs and awkwardness in the room, and Sumrall didn’t bring Kiffin up again.

Kiffin, who was a candidate for Florida’s opening, became mired in controversy for how he handled his final days in Oxford. Rebels athletic director Keith Carter promised a decision from Kiffin on Saturday. News began to break Saturday night that Kiffin chose LSU, but he waited until Sunday afternoon to officially break the news.

Kiffin burned bridges with Rebel fans – who booed him at the airport – and he won’t be coaching them in the College Football Playoff.

Still, many Florida fans yearned for Kiffin until the end and expressed anger at athletic director Scott Stricklin, even after Sumrall’s hiring was announced.

Stricklin said Monday that he and Kiffin shared some good conversations. He said he usually doesn’t speak about other coaching candidates, but given Kiffin’s high-profile nature, he chose to do so.

“I enjoyed getting to know him. He’s a fascinating guy,” Stricklin said. “I respect his decision. I don’t know why he made the decision he did.”

When it comes to fan backlash, Stricklin attributed much of the blame to fake news spreading on the internet.

“In this day and age with social media and message boards and these coaching searches that when real information doesn’t get out, people start creating narratives,” Stricklin said. “I’ve heard so many stories that people have accepted as fact because in a news vacuum, stories get created. I think a lot is being created that fans thought was true and it was pure fabrication.”

Stricklin called Kiffin a “unique candidate.”

“You could go back in the last several cycles of coaching hires, he would be a unique candidate in that round,” Stricklin said.

Legendary Gator QB Danny Wuerffel, who assisted in the search and sat in on every interview, voiced his frustration at fans calling out Stricklin.

“I can assure you that in no way was it Scott’s fault that didn’t happen, and he did a fantastic job in all those conversations,” Wuerffel said.

The former Florida QB called Kiffin a “incredible coach,” but once it seemed like he leaned towards LSU, Florida had to pivot quickly to Sumrall since both Auburn and Ole Miss expressed interest in the former Tulane and Troy coach. Stricklin himself had a look Monday that indicated relief that UF avoided the debacle Ole Miss found itself in.

As the former AD at Mississippi State, Stricklin said he sympathized with Carter’s predicament at Ole Miss and the difficulties of competing with top SEC brands like Florida and LSU.

“If you were to let your coach lead and still take care of the job and still coaching coach your team in the playoff, are you sending a signal to your fan base and everyone else that it’s okay were doing this?” Stricklin said. “We’re not toe to toe. I think optically it put them in a hard situation, and I can relate to that.”

Wuerffel doesn’t even view Sumrall’s hiring it as a negative. Florida interviewed him first, and he was blown away.

“We were told either get him or you’re going to be competing against him soon because he’s going to be winning in the SEC before long,” Wuerffel said. “So even early on, he was very impressive.”

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: Florida football coach Jon Sumrall, Scott Stricklin talk Lane Kiffin mess

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