{"id":228990,"date":"2026-04-12T21:51:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T21:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/228990\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T21:51:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T21:51:13","slug":"ufs-sumrall-vows-to-wake-the-beast-up-and-jumpstart-gators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/228990\/","title":{"rendered":"UF’s Sumrall vows to ‘wake the beast up’ and jumpstart Gators"},"content":{"rendered":"

GAINESVILLE \u2014 Coach Jon Sumrall<\/a> inherited a Florida football program in an extended slumber, along with a fan base worn out by losing.<\/p>\n

But a bright-eyed, eager crowd gathered hours before Saturday\u2019s Orange and Blue spring game, energizing a coach who already has plenty to spare.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a special place,\u201d Sumrall said. \u201cYou can tell when you pull over to the Gator Walk today; there\u2019s a decent number of people here at 9 in the morning for a noon kick that are ready to see these guys play. Very pleased with the support we\u2019ve had here.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis fan base is passionate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sumrall plans to repay that passion with championship success absent for nearly two decades, dating back to Urban Meyer\u2019s national title<\/a> teams in 2006 and 2008. Since Meyer\u2019s departure in 2010, Florida has reached 11 wins just twice (2012, 2019) \u2014 a mark Sumrall hit in three of four seasons as a head coach at Troy and Tulane.<\/p>\n

The 43-year-old believes Florida still has the ingredients few programs can match: tradition, recruiting footprint, fan support and a gameday environment reflected in a a reported crowd of 47,100 Saturday in the Swamp.<\/p>\n

Meyer has served as a sounding board for Sumrall and attended his coaching clinic April 3, alongside Super Bowl- winning coach Jon Gruden and Liam Coen of the Jacksonville Jaguars. On Saturday, Sumrall echoed a message from Gruden, who reminded players that Florida once ruled the SEC.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talked about \u2014 we\u2019ve got to wake the beast up,\u201d Sumrall recalled. \u201cLike, it\u2019s time we wake this thing up. This is a sleeping giant. I\u2019m telling you right now, it ain\u2019t a matter of if we\u2019re gonna win here. It\u2019s how fast we\u2019re gonna win.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spring practices, culminating with the Orange and Blue game, provided Sumrall reasons for optimism and skepticism entering the offseason.<\/p>\n

The Gators\u2019 offense under Buster Faulkner flashed explosiveness in the passing game.<\/p>\n

Quarterbacks Aaron Philo and Tramell Jones Jr. each threw two touchdowns of at least 20 yards \u2014 three of them exceeding 30 \u2014 a season after Florida produced an SEC-low 11 30-yard completions in FBS games.<\/p>\n

\"FloridaFlorida head coach Jon Sumrall (right) leads his Gators onto the field for the 2026 Orange & Blue Game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the UF campus. (Stephen M. Dowell\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

Receivers totaled seven catches of 25 yards or more after just 19 in 2025. Aside from sophomore standout Vernell Brown III\u2019s 31-yard touchdown, newcomers accounted for the rest.<\/p>\n

Wake Forest transfer Micah May Jr. delivered the highlight of the day \u2014 a 75-yard touchdown from Jones \u2014 as he finished with four catches for 122 yards and two scores. Auburn transfer Eric Singleton Jr.<\/a> and returning redshirt sophomore TJ Abrams led the team with six receptions apiece, with Singleton totaling 92 yards and a 38-yard score.<\/p>\n

Georgia Tech transfer Baily Stockton, who played the past two seasons under Faulkner, had four catches for 24 yards and showed burst in space.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got some speed there,\u201d Faulkner said. \u201cI think six or seven guys in that room are playing really good football. The hard part for us is going to be to make sure they all get a chance to touch the football.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sumrall also offered an update on promising Dallas Wilson, who set spring game records with 10 catches for 195 yards in 2025. The 6-foot-3, 218-pound redshirt freshman is recovering from offseason foot surgery, but could have played if needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWas it the right move to limit him this spring so he can fully get to where he needs to be? Yes,\u201d Sumrall said. \u201cBecause when he does, watch out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Defensively, UCLA transfer Kayne Clark had five solo tackles, while incoming defensive backs DJ Coleman (Baylor) and Cam Dooley (Kentucky) each had interceptions. True freshman edge rushers KJ Ford and JaReylan McCoy added a sack apiece.<\/p>\n

The defensive line, in particular, earned Sumrall\u2019s approval thanks to depth at tackle (Brendan Bett, Joseph Mbatchou, Jeremiah McCloud, DK Kalu) and length on the edge with Kam James, Emmanuel Oyebadejo and L.J. McCray, all listed at 6-foot-6.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of guys in that room that I think can play winning football,\u201d Sumrall said.<\/p>\n

\"UniversityUniversity of Florida receiver Micah Mays Jr. (5) concentrates to pull in a touchdown catch in front of cornerback Jordy Lowery (13) during the 2026 Orange & Blue Game Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the UF campus in Gainesville. (Stephen M. Dowell\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

He\u2019s far less certain about the offensive line.<\/p>\n

Coaches continued to rotate players and experiment with multiple combinations Saturday, still searching for the right five-man unit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re nowhere near settled in that room,\u201d Sumrall said.<\/p>\n

Significant progress will be required during the offseason program under strength coach Rusty Whitt.<\/p>\n

\u201cRusty does a lot of things well. What he does best is build lineman, and we need that,\u201d Sumrall said. \u201cThose guys have to have a freaking great summer or we got no chance. There\u2019s gotta be a lot of growth that continues to happen \u2014 and they will.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sumrall sees enough roster gaps that he acknowledged he\u2019d welcome a spring transfer portal, eliminated by the NCAA in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to be able to go out and have that little free agency period, and fix a couple spots a little bit more than we got fixed right now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He now plans to meet individually with all 111 players to define roles and set expectations heading into the offseason.<\/p>\n

After Saturday\u2019s game, his message was already clear.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re gonna wake up tomorrow, and we\u2019ve got to get our ass back to work,\u201d he said. \u201cSpring practice may be over, but us getting better so we can try to win football games here is far from over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GAINESVILLE \u2014 Coach Jon Sumrall inherited a Florida football program in an extended slumber, along with a fan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228991,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[111,28,2530,2496,114,139,141,140,76046,110],"class_list":["post-228990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-college-sports","tag-florida","tag-florida-gators","tag-gainesville","tag-latest-headlines","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-social-sports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}