Image Credit: Sophia Germer

The Florida Gators concluded a search that spanned nearly six weeks by hiring Tulane’s Jon Sumrall as the 27th leader of their football program. Sumrall, 43, has compiled a 42-11 record as a head football coach with two conference championships and four league title game appearances in as many seasons.

Florida is signing Sumrall to a six-year, $45 million contract at an average value of $7.5 million per season, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Sumrall will remain with the Green Wave through the end of their season, including an American Championship Game appearance and potential College Football Playoff bid. He is the first coach in FBS history to advance to four straight conference title games to open his career across two different institutions.

“The University of Florida is one of the premier programs in college football, and it’s an incredible honor to serve as the head football coach,” Sumrall said in a press release. “I believe in building a team rooted in toughness, accountability and a relentless competitive spirit. Florida has everything necessary to compete at the highest level — the resources, the support, the tradition and the passion of Gator Nation. My family and I are excited to get to work.”

“One of my first priorities will be to assemble an incredible staff, including an offensive coordinator who understands that, at Florida, having an explosive offense isn’t optional — it’s mandatory!” Sumrall added.

The Gators turned to Sumrall after failing in their pursuit of Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin, whom many believe Florida should have hired in 2021 and again following the 2024 season. The pivot came Friday, just as Kiffin was polishing off the Rebels’ most successful regular season in more than six decades with a playoff bid awaiting.

The Gators are finalizing a deal with David Caldwell to serve as the program’s general manager. Caldwell failed in the same role with the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2013-20 — the team only won 30% of its games under his leadership — but has since thrived, winning two Super Bowls with the Philadelphia Eagles.

The move to Sumrall is rather stunning, considering comparisons to the jettisoned Billy Napier — Florida’s least successful full-time coach in 75 years — and the Gators’ expected focus on hiring a new program leader with Power Four head coaching experience.

“Jon Sumrall is a proven winner and an exceptional leader who has built successful programs at every stop,” athletic director Scott Stricklin said. “He brings tremendous energy, strong recruiting relationships across our footprint, and a philosophy rooted in toughness, discipline and player development. He will cultivate a daily culture of competitiveness, accountability and winning that drives success on the field and throughout our program. Jon fully understands the expectations at the University of Florida, including our expectations to produce championship teams that feature a dynamic offense. … Jon’s track record of rapid turnarounds speaks directly to his leadership and the culture he establishes.”

While Sumrall’s success at the Group of Five level appears impressive on paper, it is less attractive when examined in detail. Additionally, the Gators have twice failed in prior attempts to elevate coaches, and this practice has proven generally unsuccessful for teams seeking national and conference championships.

Sumrall’s background

An Alabama native and former Kentucky linebacker, Sumrall made a quick rise in the industry, immediately moving into coaching once his playing career concluded. He spent five years at San Diego (2007-11) before joining Tulane as co-defensive coordinator under Curtis Johnson (2012-14). He then went to Troy (2015-17) prior to beginning his Power Four coaching career leading linebackers at Ole Miss (2018) and his alma mater (2019-21), adding a co-defensive coordinator title in his final season with the Wildcats.

Sumrall was ultimately hired as head coach by two programs he served as an assistant. He first took over a Troy team that finished below .500 in three straight seasons and returned it to glory, compiling a 23-4 (14-2) record in two campaigns with a pair of Sun Belt championships. The Trojans finished 0-2 against ranked opponents but won 11 straight games to conclude the 2022 campaign and Sumrall’s final 10 games in 2023. Then he went back to Louisiana.

Leading and leaving the Green Wave

Sumrall’s task at Tulane was simpler: continue the success fostered by Willie Fritz, who went 23-4 across the prior two seasons. The Green Wave finished 9-5 in Sumrall’s first campaign before falling in the American Championship Game, and they stand 10-2 in 2025, returning to compete for the American title. Tulane under Sumrall is 0-4 against ranked opponents, losing those games by an average of 19.5 points, and 2-4 against Power Four teams. (It fell to Florida 33-8 in the 2024 Gasparilla Bowl, largely because Sumrall did not have a starting quarterback in the game.)

Tulane has not played the three other best teams in the American this season. It defeated fifth-place East Carolina, 26-19, and lost by 22 points at sixth-place UTSA. On Saturday night, the Green Wave won 27-0 over a 1-11 Charlotte team; they only scored 6 points in the second half.

Tulane is ranked 47th nationally in total offense and 59th nationally in scoring offense, employing a lot of 12 personnel, as the Gators have for the last four seasons. Tulane stands 10th out of 14 American teams in passing attempts per game with two of the four teams behind it being the triple-option offenses of Army West Point and Navy.

The Green Wave are ranked 69th in scoring defense (worse than Florida, 65th) and 88th in total defense (worse than Florida, 70th) despite that side of the ball being Sumrall’s specialty. Tulane is 5-0 in one-score games this season, but that’s largely because it has opened large leads and let teams back into games. It is also one of the least disciplined teams in the nation, ranking 123rd out of 134 FBS teams in total penalties committed.

So, what are the Gators getting?

It’s tough to see the Sumrall hire, initially, as anything more than Napier 2.0 — a program manager who needs the perfect mix of coordinators and talent in place to have success. Some industry experts believe Sumrall is the type of coach who will succeed where Napier failed — passion, flexibility, etc. — but that is simply a projection. Sumrall thrived at Troy only to level up within the Group of Five and perform worse, and now he’s going to level up again and take over a prominent Power Four program.

Stricklin ultimately replaced a moderately successful Group of Five coach from Louisiana with a moderately successful Group of Five coach from Louisiana, one in Sumrall with less Power Four experience who lost to Napier and Kiffin by an average of 30.0 points over the last two seasons.

Only one coach in history, whose prior stop was a Group of Five program, has won an SEC Championship Game in the 34 years of the contest’s existence. Nothing about Sumrall’s resume stacks positively against that individual: Urban Meyer.

So … the Gators fired Napier, paid his massive $21 million buyout, likely spent seven figures to hire a search firm yet ultimately landed a defensive-focused version of the same guy?

While Sumrall and Napier stack up similarly from a resume standpoint, as personalities, they could not be more different. Sumrall is much more charismatic, and many players have praised his “swagger.” He shows energy and passion, talks crap when necessary and truly motivates his teams.

Sumrall is far more adaptable as a coach than Napier, too. If Napier had embraced his true role as a program manager, he may still be the coach of the Gators. The program certainly would have been better off. Sumrall, apparently, does not have such hangups.

Florida is promoting the Sumrall hiring by noting that he has the sixth-most wins among FBS coaches since 2022, the most road victories in that span and the fifth-highest winning percentage among active coaches.

Sumrall may exceed all expectations, pulling Florida out of the lurch in which it has found itself over the last 15 years. After all, he did have to rebuild Tulane’s roster twice in as many seasons, and he did already share an understanding about the necessity for a top-light offensive coordinator — important considering the Napier debacle and how poorly the Wave have played on that side of the ball.

By all available metrics at the time of his hiring, though, any projection that Sumrall will definitely succeed where Napier failed would be foolhardy at best. And Stricklin’s belief that a hire so similar to Napier would go over well with Gator Nation is even more confounding. Grade: C

What they’re saying

The following reactions to the hiring of Sumrall come from Florida’s press release announcing the move.

Steve Spurrier: “I’m 100% supportive of the hiring of Coach Sumrall. He is an excellent choice and has the track record to prove it. He is a young coach on the way up and certainly has a winning record and produced winning teams. He is coaching in his fourth straight league’s championship game Friday night. He’s a proven winner and he will bring a little more fire and emotion to our team.”

Urban Meyer: “What a special day for Gator Nation. Jon is one of the top young coaches in the game. I’ve studied Coach Sumrall and have gotten to spend some time with him. His teams are tough, physical and he creates a competitive environment. I look forward to getting to know him even more and the special things he will do at Florida.”