Image Credit: Anna Carrington, UAA

Sunday morning marked the first time Jon Sumrall has been able to concentrate entirely on his job as head coach of the Florida Gators. With the No. 23 Tulane Green Wave eliminated in the first round of the College Football Playoff, not only Sumrall but select assistants from the team are now available for Florida, and it appears as if at least five will be donning orange & blue next season.

Joe Craddock (quarterbacks coach), Jonathan Galante (special teams coordinator), Greg Gasparato (inside linebackers coach), Bam Hardmon (outside linebackers coach) and Evan McKissack (tight ends coach) are set to be hired by the Gators, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel and CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz.

Sumrall is also bringing strength & conditioning coordinator Rusty Whitt from the Green Wave, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Craddock, who has also served as Sumrall’s offensive coordinator across the last four seasons at Troy and Tulane, is an Alabama native who previously coached tight ends at UAB (2020-21) and coordinated offenses for Arkansas (2018-19) and SMU (2015-17). He began his collegiate career working under Dabo Swinney as a graduate assistant at Clemson.

With extensive experience coaching and recruiting in the South, plus being at the helm of four offenses that reached conference championship games under Sumrall, Craddock should serve as a bridge between the boss and offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner. While they never worked together, Faulkner and Craddock have likely crossed paths regularly given their backgrounds placed them in similar locations.

Galante, who was nominated this season for the Broyles Award (won by Faulkner) honoring the best assistant coach in college football, was in his first season with the Green Wave after previously leading the same unit at Marshall (2022-24). He started his career working as a special teams analyst at Alabama (2019-22) and a graduate assistant at Virginia Tech (2017-18). Galante will be Florida’s first true special teams coordinator since 2021.

Gasparato, who has been Sumrall’s defensive coordinator for the last three seasons, also coached safeties at Tulane. The former Army co-defensive coordinator (2020) led linebackers and safeties in two stints each at Appalachian State (2013-14, 2018-19) and Louisville (2021-22).

Byron Hardmon, a star Gators linebacker from 1999-2002 under Steve Spurrier and Ron Zook, has been serving as outside linebackers coach and defensive run game coordinator for the Green Wave. Sumrall retained Hardmon when he was hired at Troy. Hardmon held the same role with the Trojans for a total of 10 years, eight preceding Sumrall.

McKissack coached the offensive line and served as Craddock’s co-offensive coordinator over the last two seasons. He previously led tight ends under Sumrall at Troy. He began his coaching career as a Kentucky graduate assistant (2017-19) before joining Murray State as tight ends and running backs coach.

While Galante and Hardmon are coming over to Florida in equal roles, Craddock, Gasparato and McKissack are taking demotions as pure position coaches. They may be future candidates to become coordinators or co-coordinators as Sumrall evaluates their work at the upper echelon of college football.

Whitt has led Sumrall’s strength & conditioning program during his entire head coach tenure. A former communications sergeant in the U.S. Army, Whitt’s prior stops include West Point, Texas Tech, Louisiana and Louisville, among others.

During his opening press conference, Sumrall made a firm statement that he would hire the best coaching staff he could for the Gators, not lean on friends and past relationships. He did clarify, of course, that there would be some staff hired with whom he’s familiar.

“I don’t hire my friends,” he said. “… I don’t hire a staff off of who are my buddies. I hire a 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.”

Among the 13 assistants either announced or firmly reported as joining the program, Sumrall either worked at Tulane or coached alongside the majority of them (seven). However, many are taking lesser roles to start at Florida, and none appear to be underqualified for their respective positions.

Florida Gators coaching staff, 2026

Head coach — Jon Sumrall | Grade: B-
Defensive coordinator — Brad White (Kentucky) | Grade: B-
Offensive coordinator — Buster Faulkner (Georgia Tech) | Grade: A
Defensive line coach — Gerald Chatman (Florida) | promoted to assistant head coach
Offensive line coach — Phil Trautwein (Penn State) | Grade: A
Defensive backs coach — Brandon Harris (UCF) | Grade: B
Wide receivers coach — Marcus Davis (Auburn) | Grade: C+
Safeties coach — Chris Collins (Kentucky) | rumored
Quarterbacks coach — Joe Craddock (Tulane) | Grade: B
Inside linebackers coach — Greg Gasparato (Tulane) | Grade: B–
Outside linebackers coach — Bam Hardmon (Tulane) | Grade: B
Special teams coordinator — Jonathan Galante (Tulane) | Grade: A-
Tight ends coach — Evan McKissack (Tulane) | Grade: C-
Running backs coach — TBD
Strength & conditioning coordinator — Rusty Whitt (Tulane) | Grade: B+

Coaches are listed and grades are finalized only after they are officially announced or firmly reported as being hired.