‘I Own It’: Jon Sumrall Stays Grounded as Florida’s Season Slips
Florida football fell hard last Saturday in a 23-7 defeat to the Oklahoma Sooners. Two days later, coach Jon Sumrall faced questions about the loss and the challenges of his first season in Gainesville.
With three weeks left in the season, the frustration of recent performances was evident, but Sumrall remained focused on moving forward and making progress as a program. Despite acknowledging the difficulties that come with being head coach, his message remained centered on staying grounded.
Sumrall’s first season as head coach has produced a 5-4, 3-4 SEC record marked by big wins and tough losses. Florida opened the season 4-0, with playoff hopes growing stronger by the week. However, the Gators have struggled to maintain that momentum in recent weeks amid impactful injuries, an ongoing quarterback battle and struggles with consistency on both sides of the ball.
In their most recent loss, the Gators logged just 203 yards of offense compared to the Sooners’ 351, with only 70 of their 203 yards coming from their once-dominant rushing game.
Quarterback Tramell Jones threw for 133 yards, completing 10 of 22 passes and throwing two interceptions. Needless to say, it wasn’t their best performance.
As the season nears its end, Sumrall said Monday his goal amid the adversity is to focus on what he can control. He leaned on the adage, “Tough times don’t last, tough people do,” to explain his mentality following the Oklahoma loss.
“I want to be successful. I want to win everything we do,” Sumrall said. “And so the setbacks, it is a challenge. It is real. I mean, I own it … But I’m motivated every day to get back to work and attack the things that are in front of us and worry about what I have control over.”
While Sumrall has remained confident in his ability to lead the program, he didn’t shy away from acknowledging how difficult the job has been, particularly when the results aren’t reflecting the work behind the scenes.
Part of what he can control is the motivation and mentality of his staff and players. The players’ toughness and work ethic have always been something he and Rusty Whitt, Florida’s strength and conditioning coach, have appreciated.
But with the team’s recent shortcomings on the field, the attention surrounding the program has shifted to a greater focus on negative results, putting Sumrall’s coaching and the team’s grit into question.
“When there’s negativity around or being said about them, I think they feel that probably too much,” Sumrall said. “Helping our players understand, when you’re in the fire, you’re going to get burned some. And like, you have to be comfortable with that.”
Now heading into this weekend, Sumrall will return to a place he once called home. Outside of serving as a graduate assistant for Kentucky, he also played for the school as a linebacker in 2004.
The Wildcats (7-2, 5-2 SEC) have had a strong season so far, sitting at No. 6 in the first College Football Playoff rankings last Tuesday.
Kentucky has averaged 29.9 points and 383.6 yards of offense per game this season. Its rushing attack ranks No. 6 in the SEC, averaging 163.67 yards per game with 16 rushing touchdowns.
Defensively, the Wildcats have several standout players, including defensive back Ty Bryant and safety Castell Jordan, who are tied for first in the SEC with four interceptions each. Linebacker Godfrey Grant also ranks second in the SEC in tackles, with 30 solo tackles and 48 assists.
Despite its strong season, Kentucky is coming off a staggering 34-6 loss to Tennessee on Saturday. For the Gators, who have consistently fumbled seemingly easy wins against Missouri, South Carolina and Oklahoma while proving dominant in bigger matchups against Texas and Ole Miss, the result could go either way.
For Sumrall, the challenge is now to have his team rediscover the confidence they played with earlier in the season.
“The same people that are in here that scored 50-some points against Ole Miss, they’re still here,” he said. “We just have to get back to being that group, and how do we find ourselves?”
As the Gators prepare for Sunday, the goal remains the same as it has since the start of the season: focus on going 1-0 each week rather than dwelling on past results or looking too far ahead.
“Nobody ever said ‘work football’ growing up as a kid; you said ‘play football’,” Sumrall said. “So go cut it loose, have fun, compete your ass off, let it all hang out, don’t look at the scoreboard, play four quarters, then at the end of the game look up and go, ‘What’s the score?’”
Category: Feature Sports News, Gator Sports, Gators Football
