Following a month of rumors and uncertainty, the next chapter of Florida football is beginning. Athletic Director Scott Stricklin announced on Sunday that Florida’s next head coach would be Tulane’s Jon Sumrall. Sumrall (.792 career winning percentage) is the 31st coach in school history and follows Billy Napier.
Stricklin listed Florida spirit, acceptance of pressure, and drive to win championships as the criteria that he looked for while searching for the next head coach.
“From our very first conversation, Jon Sumrall stood out,” Stricklin said.
The press conference began with Stricklin introducing Sumrall and welcoming him to Gainesville.
From the start of the conference, Coach Sumrall consistently expressed his excitement to start coaching in Gainesville, somewhere that he has both played and coached in his career.
“We had choices, my wife and I, we sat down and we chose Florida, we made that decision,” Sumrall said. “Florida had to choose us, but we chose it back.”
Along with his wife Ginny, Sumrall brings with him his four children, Sam, Sadie, Stella and Selah. Sumrall’s family shares his love of football and reflects his excitement for the future.
“[My daughter’s] immediate response was “Dad, can we win a championship there?” Sumrall stated. “I said, “You’re damn right we can.”
Florida also hired former Jacksonville Jaguars GM Dave Caldwell to be the new general manager of the football team. This allows Sumrall to have full focus on coaching the team, while continuing to recruit alongside Caldwell.
“My number one job is to coach the team,” Sumrall said.
Despite this, Sumrall insisted that he will still be hands-on in recruiting. The Gators have not seen any players decommitment from their 13th-ranked commitment class. Coach Sumrall has already made contact with current Florida commits.
“I Zoomed with [commits] yesterday and first I thanked them, there haven’t been a lot of decommitments, which is very powerful, it speaks a lot about what this place is,” Sumrall stated
The most consistent theme that Sumrall made sure to emphasize was his obsession with winning. Sumrall boasts the fifth-highest winning percentage of FBS coaches since 2022, only trailing Ryan Day, Dan Lanning, Kirby Smart and Curt Cignetti.
“I want to win tomorrow, and today, and every day,” Sumrall said. “I already referenced my son, he’s 12, when we play basketball in the back yard he gets his butt kicked because I want to win.”
Despite fans’ concerns stemming from Sumrall’s background being in the Group of Five, he emphasized his commitment to the program and his excitement for the future.
“I wanna be at Florida for a really long time. I’d like to coach here forever,” Sumrall said.
