Inside Florida football’s coaching search and how UF landed Jon Sumrall

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A five-week search for the new Florida football coach took some twists and turns, but Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin landed on a hire he's confident will turn around UF's fortunes.

After Tulane's Jon Sumrall was introduced as the 31st head coach in Florida Gators history, Stricklin discussed some details of the search and how UF landed on Sumrall.

Stricklin said about a dozen candidates were interviewed. The 43-year-old Sumrall was one of the first candidates interviewed and made a strong first impression.

"From our very first conversation, Jon Sumrall stood out," Stricklin said. "His clarity, his urgency, his competitive mindset was unmistakable. He didn't just tiptoe around expectations, he leaned into them. He talked about winning a lot with a conviction that stood out."

Stricklin said there were some candidates UF tried to pursue outside of the dozen who were interviewed that weren't interested in the job. But the Gators, with the aid of the Turnkey search firm, pressed forward.

"Over that time, you start figuring out fits," Stricklin said.

By the week leading into Thanksgiving, UF's search had narrowed down to three candidates − Ole Miss's Lane Kiffin, Vanderbilt's Clark Lea and Sumrall.

Of the pursuit of Kiffin, the offensive mastermind who wound up abandoning College Football Playoff-bound Ole Miss for LSU, Stricklin said: "We had some really positive conversions, I did not know him well other than passing in league meetings past but I enjoyed getting to know him. He's a fascinating guy. I respect his decision. I don't know why he made the decision he did but I would say we had productive conversations and I enjoyed those conversations."

Like Kiffin, Sumrall was being pursued by other SEC programs, including Auburn and Arkansas. There were rumblings that Ole Miss, where Sumrall was linebackers coach in 2018, would try to land Sumrall if Kiffin left.

"It drove a lot of the timeline, especially the last 10 days or so," Stricklin said. "There's a high-profile candidate we were involved with and once we got a sense that was kind of not going our way, we understood there was going to be a line out the door for Jon Sumrall and we began positioning ourselves to where we can take advantage of that."

Sumrall, a Huntsville, Alabama, native, could have returned to coach in his home state. But after consulting with his family, Sumrall decided Florida was the right stop to continue his coaching career.

"We had options," Sumrall said. "We had choices. My wife and I, we sat down and we chose Florida. We made that decision. Florida had to choose us, but we chose it back."

Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1. 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: How Florida football landed on Jon Sumrall in coaching search

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