Jon Sumrall cracks top 25 in college football's head coach rankings
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
Florida football switched gears this past offseason, moving on from Billy Napier’s disappointing tenure into the Jon Sumrall era in hopes of restoring glory to a once-proud program.
Early on, the decision to bring in the former Tulane Green Wave skipper has earned a good deal of praise from the national media, largely due to his successes in the transfer portal and on the recruiting front. USA TODAY Sports writers Paul Myerberg, Blake Toppmeyer, Jordan Mendoza and Austin Curtright all ranked the top 25 college football head coaches heading into the 2026 campaign, with Sumrall landing at No. 22.
“This might be the last chance to buy low on Sumrall stock. He won more than 78% of his games in four seasons as a Group of Six coach. He took Tulane to the CFP,” they note.
“Sure, he must still prove himself in the SEC, but there’s no reason to think he can’t reinvigorate Florida. He played in this conference. He’s worked in it, too, as an assistant. Sumrall became a hot commodity on the coaching carousel. He’s a good consolation prize for Florida after it missed on Kiffin.”
Speaking of the SEC, Toppmeyer recently ranked all 16 conference coaches, in which Sumrall landed in the dead middle at No. 8, between Missouri Tigers coach Eliah Drinkwitz and Vanderbilt Commodores skipper Clark Lea, respectively.
Interestingly, eight SEC coaches were also mentioned among the top 25, with Georgia‘s Kirby Smart leading the way at No. 2, followed by LSU‘s Lane Kiffin (No. 6), Texas‘ Steve Sarkisian (No. 8), Alabama‘s Kalen DeBoer (No. 9), Texas A&M‘s Mike Elko (No. 13), Vanderbilt’s Lea (No. 23) and Tennessee‘s Josh Heupel (No. 24) making the cut along with Sumrall at No. 22.
College football coaches rankings top 25
- Curt Cignetti, Indiana (13)
- Kirby Smart, Georgia (1)
- Ryan Day, Ohio State (2)
- Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame (7)
- Dan Lanning, Oregon (6)
- Lane Kiffin, LSU (9)
- Mario Cristobal, Miami (Florida) (25)
- Steve Sarkisian, Texas (4)
- Kalen DeBoer, Alabama (8)
- Dabo Swinney, Clemson (3)
- Kelani Sitake, Brigham Young (20)
- Kyle Whittingham, Michigan (12)
- Mike Elko, Texas A&M (NR)
- James Franklin, Virginia Tech (5)
- Matt Campbell, Penn State (11)
- Kirk Ferentz, Iowa (14)
- Jeff Brohm, Louisville (16)
- Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State (NR)
- Lincoln Riley, Southern California (23)
- Willie Fritz, Houston (NR)
- Rhett Lashlee, SMU (22)
- Jon Sumrall, Florida (NR)
- Clark Lea, Vanderbilt (NR)
- Josh Heupel, Tennessee (17)
- Sonny Dykes, TCU (NR)
Number in parentheses denotes last year’s ranking
Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Jon Sumrall cracks top 25 in college football’s head coach rankings
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos