Jon Sumrall brings trio of coaches from Tulane to Florida

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Jon Sumrall is bringing three familiar faces from Tulane with him to Florida. According to 247Sports, Sumrall is hiring Byron ‘Bam’ Hardmon as Florida’s outside linebackers coach, Greg Gasparato as the inside linebackers coach and Evan McKissack as the tight ends coach.

“I don’t hire my friends,” Sumrall said in his introductory press conference. “Honestly, when I took my first head coaching job, I lost some friends, maybe, or at least for a little while. They were like, you know, I thought we were buddies. And I was like, we are. That doesn’t mean you’re the right fit here.

“…I took this job because, man, this is the job I want to be at for a long time, but I don’t hire staff off of who are my buddies. I hire staff based upon what is the absolute best group of people we can put together to serve and develop our players and win championships at that place. Every place is different.

Sumrall said he would bring in a few people “that have been around (him)” and add some outside help, too. With these hires, he’s satisfied both of those conditions.

OLB/EDGE coach Byron ‘Bam’ Hardmon

Hardmon has spent the last two years with Tulans under Sumrall, serving as the run-game coordinator and outside linebackers coach. A former All-SEC linebacker and four-time letterwinner at Florida, Hardmon spent three years playing in the NFL before starting his coaching career.

His first coaching job came as a graduate assistant at Illinois, where he spent three seasons. In 2011, the Fighting Illini broke a school record with 41 sacks and ranked fourth nationally in tackles for loss. Ten-year NFL veteran Whitney Mercilus was a notable name in that group, as was 2011 first-round pick Corey Liuget.

Hardmon spent a year with Charleston Southern as the special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach and then served two seasons with Idaho as the defensive line coach. He then went to Troy as a linebackers coach — first with the inside linebackers and then with the outside linebackers — and helped turn the Trojans into one of the best defenses in the Sun Belt Conference.

Over nine years, Hardmon saw Troy finish ranked for the first time in program history and mentored several top defenses, according to national rankings. He was a Broyles Award nominee in 2018 and a finalist for the 2020 Football Scoop Linebackers Coach of the Year.

It was at Troy that Hardmon first coached under Sumrall, ultimately following him to Tulane in 2024.

ILB cocach Greg Gasparato

Gasparato played at Wofford, winning a Southern Conference championship in 2007, and started coaching at Richland Northeast High in South Carolina, overseeing safeties and special teams, in 2010. He moved to Juniata College in 2011 as a defensive backs coach and then went to Brevard College in 2012 as an outside linebackers coach.

He became a graduate assistant at Appalachian State while pursuing a master’s degree from 2013-14 before returning to his alma mater (Wofford) as an inside linebackers coach in 2015. In 2018, he returned to App State for his first Division I coaching job as a safeties coach. He was named the football Scoop Defensive Backs Coach of the Year that season and helped the Mountaineers win the inaugural Sun Belt Championship Game. In 2019, App State had a top-30 defense.

Army brought him on as a co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach for the 2020 season, where the Knights ranked first in the nation in total defense. Gasparato spent the next two seasons at Louisville, first as a safeties coach and then working with the outside linebackers.

Sumrall brought him to Troy as a defensive coordinator in 2023, and he served as the interim head coach before following Sumrall to Tulane. He helped the Trojans set a program and Sun Belt single-season record with 47 sacks.

TE coach Evan McKissack

McKissack was a standout offensive lineman for Troy in 2014, and he started his coaching career at Enterprise High in Alabama in the fall. He ended up moving to Colquitt County High in Georgia for the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

His collegiate coaching career started at Kentucky as a graduate assistant alongside his offensive line coach while at Troy, John Schlarman. The trio of Bunchy Stallings, Logan Stenberg and George Asafo-Adjei were all drafted after playing under McKissack. They blocked for All-American running back Benny Snell.

McKissack went to Murray State in 2020, coaching both the tight ends and running backs for two seasons. He joined Sumrall’s staff at Troy in 2022, the year the Trojans finished ranked No. 19 in the AP Top 25. Sumrall brought him to Tulane in 2024 as a co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach.

Jon Sumrall’s staff at Florida

Front office

Offense

Defense

Special Teams/Strength and Conditioning

  • Special teams coordinator: Jonathan Galante
  • Strength and conditioning: Rusty Whitt

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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida Gators football hires trio of Tulane coaches

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