![\"Florida\u2019s](\"https:\/\/platform.rockmnation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/135\/2026\/06\/Capture.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100\")
<\/a><\/p>\nFlorida\u2019s Historical SP+ Performance<\/p>\n
For me, I didn\u2019t pay much attention to Florida until Urban Meyer made his transcendent run at the school from \u201805-10 while winning two national titles, so they\u2019ll always be the transcendent spread offense with a baby rhino at quarterback and the largest collection of elite defensive talent on the planet. But maybe you remember the higher-flying offensive days of Steve Spurrier dropping 50 burgers on the \u201cGRRRRRRRR DEFENSE FIRST\u201d SEC in the 1990s.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re younger than me maybe the \u201cGRRRRRRRR DEFENSE FIRST\u201d applies to Will Muschamp\u2019s version of Florida football, the one where offense nearly disappeared as he won slug fest games 13-10 for four years.<\/p>\n
Maybe your vision of Florida football is Jim McElwain humping a shark<\/a>. Or Dan Mullen trying to incite fans to storm the field and fight a football team during COVID<\/a>.<\/p>\n My point is, Florida has been many things over the years and it\u2019s hard to nail down one specific identity or one absolute level of competence. And I find that weird for a blue blood of the sport. Every program can make crappy hires and have down years, sure, but Florida\u2019s range of outcomes seems way more diverse than a well-moneyed, deeply storied program in the SEC should be.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know if anyone can be blamed or if it\u2019s an institutional problem or what, I just find it interesting.<\/p>\n Speaking of interesting, Florida was very much not that in the last season of American collegiate football that they played.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what Florida did last year:<\/p>\n 2025 Florida Schedule Results<\/p>\n Imagine a season where you beat the #9 team in the country and then lose to a 5-7 Kentucky. That\u2019s the world Florida lived in last year.<\/p>\n Billy Napier was almost fired in 2024 but did enough with a young, 5-star quarterback that he was inexplicably allowed another year. Then he lost to South Florida in Week 2 of 2025 and that was really all the impetus Florida needed to can him. But they didn\u2019t! And the next week he lost to #3 LSU. And then lost to #4 Miami. And still wasn\u2019t fired!<\/p>\n Then the 8 point victory over Texas occurred unexpectedly. \u201cOh, is Billy going to once again convince people he can turn this thing around?\u201d people wondered. Then a loss to #5 Texas A&M that wasn\u2019t particularly close. Was he fired? No! Because then he beat Mississippi State by two points and was 3-4 heading into the Bye week.<\/p>\n That is when Florida fired him. Oooooooooooooook.<\/p>\n Florida\u2019s only win the rest of the year was a 19-point beat down over rival Florida State to keep them from bowl eligibility, which had to be one of the most satisfactory \u201ccrabs in a bucket\u201d victories of quite some time.<\/p>\n Still, Florida finished the year at 4-8. Yuck.<\/p>\n However, when you are a blue blood program that\u2019s fallen on hard times, all you need to do is fire your coach and then hire the hottest name on the coaching market to turn everything around. Which they did.<\/p>\n OXFORD, MISSISSIPPI – DECEMBER 20: Head coach Jon Sumrall of the Tulane Green Wave stands with players after a loss to the Ole Miss Rebels during the 2025 College Football Playoff First Round Game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on December 20, 2025 in Oxford, Mississippi. (Photo by Justin Ford\/Getty Images) Getty Images<\/p>\n Jon Sumrall – 1st Year – 0-0 (0-0)<\/p>\n Jon Sumrall is a very good football coach and, seemingly, a very good dude.<\/p>\n He and his family have been active in the communities of the schools that he\u2019s worked at since his days as a position coach. He stood up for New Orleans and the Hurricane Katrina anniversary<\/a>. And he even donated $100,000 to Tulane\u2019s Green Wave Talent Fund, Tulane\u2019s NIL initiative<\/a>. Oh, and that last act? He did that after he got the job at Florida as a good will gesture to incoming coach Will Hall and the Tulane athletic program to show how much he appreciated his time there.<\/p>\n I can\u2019t speak to his life outside of the spotlight but, again, he seems like a good dude. And a well-adjusted, normal dude, as well. Which is a rarity in this profession these days.<\/p>\n Coach Sumrall\u2019s Resume<\/p>\n Coach Sumrall has been a highly-regarded name for the past two coaching cycles before Florida hired him last winter. He\u2019s a defensive coordinator by trade but he\u2019s built very strong programs that have thrived in our modern era of the sport. Getting a G6 team to the 20-40 range in SP+ and earning Playoff berths is not easy, and Sumrall has done that.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been a big fan of his since he took the Troy job and believe that he\u2019s the exact sort of guy that can get results almost anywhere.<\/p>\n That being said, I believe there is a fair critique you can make of his work so far. Namely: he\u2019s had a head start at the place he\u2019s worked as a head coach before. And, by that, I mean before he was the head coach at Troy he was the Special Teams Coordinator for the Trojans from 2015-2017. He knew the place, he knew the challenges, he at least had some familiarity with the local politics and booster types. Same for Tulane; before he was the head coach there he had three years of defensive coordinator experience at that school. I don\u2019t know how much of an advantage that a coach can glean from that experience, but it\u2019s certainly better than jumping into the head coaching job cold.<\/p>\n And while Sumrall was a linebacker coach at Ole Miss for a year and has three years of experience at Kentucky, he\u2019s never worked at Florida before. And, as you can tell from my walk through their recent past, Florida can be a tricky job to navigate at times.<\/p>\n Maybe he\u2019s good enough to overcome that. Maybe not. But I\u2019m going to bank on Sumrall being really freaking good at his job until proven otherwise.<\/p>\n 2026 Florida Assistant Staff<\/p>\n Hold on a second, I want to go on a tangent for a moment and it takes some wind up to get there.<\/p>\n Dan Mullen was Florida\u2019s football coach from 2018 to 2021. And the thing about Mullen is that he\u2019s a \u201cchip-on-the-shoulder\u201d kind of coach; a head coach who does really well in under-funded, historically overlooked programs where he can lean into the \u201cTHEY DON\u2019T BELIEVE IN US\u201d mantra, recruit scratch-and-dent players, and use his big offensive brain to scheme up offenses that can hang with elite programs. As an OC at Florida he was able to win championships for Urban Meyer\u2019s recruiting juggernaut by being the best offensive mind at the time. As a head coach, his grumpy outsider schtick only works in certain venues.<\/p>\n Case in point: he did well at Mississippi State. Really well. \u201cSecond-most wins in school history\u201d well.<\/p>\n But that type of mentality and behavior doesn\u2019t fly at the flagship school of the state of Florida. One that can recruit really well on its own merits and has all the money in the world to provide\u2026anything that its football coach needs. But Dan didn\u2019t really use those resources to build a big staff or make pushes for 5-star recruits. Dan doesn\u2019t like 5-star recruits! He actively chose not to recruit the highest rated guys because of it! So Dan\u2019s angry-at-the-world approach and lackluster recruiting – paired with somewhat diminishing returns – got him fired.<\/p>\n And then Billy Napier takes the job and promises a \u201cmodernization\u201d of the staff, \u201cAlabama-fying\u201d Florida\u2019s football coaching roster by bringing in a massive work force to recruit, train, scout, develop, and manage game day to the microlevel. Beat writers were calling it an \u201cinvasion of men in polos\u201d. Napier invented roles that never existed before and hired guys to do it. They had quality control coaches for every position (and each QC had at least one assistant!). Four different dieticians, half for \u201cperformance\u201d and the other half for \u201crecovery\u201d. At least two assistants for their three different types of recruiting coordinator. Something called a \u201cGame Changer coordinator\u201d. Plus multiple co-coordinators on both sides, and even two different offensive line coaches and multiple assistant offensive line coaches!<\/p>\n And yet Napier struggled with relinquishing control, so all these roles were created to do a very specific something but had to get approval to do so first, and Napier created so many aspects of a football program he was clearly overwhelmed and missing simple stuff. Whether the team could go for it on 4th down or not: bad call, every time. Personnel packages: frequently wrong. Procedure penalties, sideline warnings, NIL-deal delivery: all getting missed.<\/p>\n It seemed that, in an effort to seem \u201cmodern\u201d and find prestige in spending money to create a massive staff of football professionals, Florida allowed Napier to build a machine so convoluted and complex that they forgot to take care of the easy stuff first, leading to 6- and 4-win seasons at multiple-national-title-winning Florida.<\/p>\n So that gets us to today. And in walks Jon Sumrall. He\u2019s still operating with Florida\u2019s budget so he has a much larger coaching staff than even other SEC programs do, but he\u2019s cleaning house and making the whole program management system streamlined (at least, so he says).<\/p>\n (Sumrall did forget to fire one of the assistant offensive line coaches until multiple weeks into his tenure, though. That\u2019s just good comedy.)<\/p>\n And while he did keep Florida\u2019s old defensive line coach Gerald Chapman, everyone else was somewhere else last year, including most of his defensive staff that he imported with him from Tulane.<\/p>\n Getting offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner from Georgia Tech was a coup. Faulkner has been an overlooked and under appreciated coordinator who has built good (and varied) offenses from Arkansas State, Southern Miss, and Georgia Tech. And getting defensive coordinator Brad White – the one competent Kentucky thing over the past five years – is another massive win. The talent is there on this staff, now its just seeing how they work together.<\/p>\n 2026 Florida Transfer Portal Losses<\/p>\n As I said earlier, Florida is one of the rare schools that can recruit for itself. You could slap a Florida football visor on an ocelot and it could bring in a Top 20 recruiting class, easy. Point being, even bad Florida football teams have extremely talented players on its roster, and when a staff gets fired, the dam of football talent busts and washes over every other power program.<\/p>\n To date, I count only ten of Florida\u2019s 34 portal losses that went \u201cdown\u201d in program hierarchy, and half of those were to Appalachian State or South Florida (very good programs) and James Madison (Playoff participant in 2025, also that\u2019s where Billy Napier is coaching now).<\/p>\n Missouri was able to nab receiver Naesehaun Montgomery from this group and there will be plenty of other former Florida players that the Tigers (and the rest of the SEC) will run into this season.<\/p>\n 2026 Florida Transfer Portal Additions<\/p>\n Sumrall and his staff targeted one clear thing in the portal: experience. Yes, Buster Faulkner brought in four Georgia Tech guys with him and Sumrall imported his specialists from Tulane but everyone else were guys who have played multiple years. Part of that might just be what it\u2019s like for a new coach in our modern portal era: flush the old roster, bring in guys that are there because you brought them there, and build from that baseline. The other part might be the aforementioned 34 portal losses. But their goal wasn\u2019t to bring in projects but production, and Florida will have 29 new faces to fill in the gaps.<\/p>\n 2026 Florida High School Recruiting Class<\/p>\n Again, anyone can recruit Florida and do just fine (unless your Dan Mullen and actively choose to not recruit well). Sumrall\u2019s first high school haul ranked 17th in the nation and 9th in the SEC, with 13 blue chippers in the 19-man class. Edge rusher K.J. Ford probably has the clearest line to early playing time given that new DC Brad White subscribes to the usage of a hybrid linebacker\/defensive end role and Florida currently has a lack of JACK-style players on their roster. Also keep an eye on receiver Justin Williams and corner C.J. Bronaugh, some of the highest-rated players to be signed by Florida in the past three years.<\/p>\n Forget what Florida did on offense last year. What does a Buster Faulkner offense do?<\/p>\n Oh, wait, forget that, too. Faulkner is one of those coordinators who, ya know, looks at the talent on his roster and crafts an offense to fit that. Novel concept, I know.<\/p>\n At Middle Tennessee, Faulkner began as a run-to-set-up-the-pass guy with elite running back Benny Cunningham, then slowly transitioned to a pass-first-efficiency-focused attack once MTSU got its hands on some better receivers. His one year as Arkansas State\u2019s OC featured an offense that was overtly reliant on running the ball and uncorking bombs through the air, while at Southern Miss he relied on Jack Abraham (remember that guy?) to throw it around 400 times with no pretense of a ground attack.<\/p>\n And then we get to the beautiful slop at Georgia Tech. Grumpy Brent Pry specialized in recruiting pure beef for his offense so Faulkner took a quarterback that loved to get hit and ran him and the running backs 50 times per game.<\/p>\n So what will Faulkner craft with the new toys at his disposal? He has a thousand-yard rusher, two unproven quarterbacks with very different skill sets, a bunch of sure-handed receivers, and a patchwork offensive line that doesn\u2019t have one overarching skill set.<\/p>\n I can\u2019t wait to see what this looks like!<\/p>\n ATLANTA, GA – NOVEMBER 21: Georgia Tech quarterback Aaron Philo (12) throws a pass during the college football game between the North Carolina State Wolfpack and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on November 21st, 2024 at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by Rich von Biberstein\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n Aaron Philo Stats<\/p>\n Faulkner and Sumrall\u2019s first offensive problem to solve is at quarterback. As previously mentioned, Faulkner portalled in his backup quarterback from last year, Aaron Philo, as a guy who had worked with Faulkner\u2019s book and knew his tendencies. But Philo is hardly a proven commodity, appearing in 8 games over two years while attempting 102 passes and 16 rushes. All fine for a backup, but certainly far from a sure thing.<\/p>\n And then there\u2019s the guy who\u2019s left over from the previous regime: Tramell Jones, Jr. A Top 250 player in high school, Jones was an afterthought freshman at the beginning of the 2025 season but turned many heads in the chances he had on the field. Last year\u2019s team loved him, and he brought an electric athleticism and excitement that tends to be lacking in a 4-win college football campaign. Sumrall and Faulkner have had nothing but positive things to say about him, as well.<\/p>\n So, now what? Older, unproven guy who knows the current coordinator? Or younger, exciting guy with a higher ceiling and lower floor?<\/p>\n GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA – NOVEMBER 29: Jadan Baugh #13 of the Florida Gators carries the ball against the Florida State Seminoles during the second half of the game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on November 29, 2025 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs\/Getty Images) Getty Images<\/p>\n Florida Returning Rushing Stats<\/p>\n Jadan Baugh is a dude. He might not have had the yards per carry average that wows but he was one of the high points of a terrible year at Florida. He managed a 50% success rate despite being the only thing that worked well on offense and having to fight the opposing defenses that only keyed in on him. 10% of his runs went for 10+ yards. and while his yards before contact was a not-so-great 1.78, his yards after contact were in the top quarter of the country at 3.54. Also, he didn\u2019t fumble at all last year!<\/p>\n And with the additions of big-play artists London Montgomery (from East Carolina) and Evan Pryor (Cincinnati), Florida should have enough rushing talent to convince Faulkner to keep his overtly-ground-oriented offense of his Georgia Tech tenure clicking in Gainesville.<\/p>\n FAYETTEVILLE, AR – OCTOBER 25: Auburn Tigers wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr. (1) carries the football during the college football game between the Auburn Tigers and Arkansas Razorbacks on October 25, 2025 at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas. (Photo by Andy Altenburger\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n Florida Returning Receiving Yards<\/p>\n You could look at the Florida receiving corps and notice that there\u2019s only one player on there that has had a season of over 600 yards receiving (Eric Singleton) and that no one eclipsed that mark last year. Or, you could look at the receiving corps and notice that Vernell Brown was a freshman who played in ten games, and all-world talent Dallas Wilson only played four games last year, also as a freshman. Sumrall mixed in veteran guys to supplement his super young talent and it\u2019s a move that makes all the sense in the world. I don\u2019t know how much this new Florida team will want to throw but the ability to throw is much more enticing thanks to their portal efforts and maturation of younger talent.<\/p>\n ORLANDO , FL – DECEMBER 27: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets offensive guard Harrison Moore (52) run blocks during the Pop-Tarts Bowl between BYU Cougars and the and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Saturday, December 27, 2025 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, FL. (Photo by Peter Joneleit\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n Florida Returning Offensive Line Stats<\/p>\n Last year\u2019s offensive line ranked 126th in penalties, a healthy 23rd in pressures allowed, but a very bad 111th in blown run blocks and 77th in overall blown blocks. The two worst starters in missed blocks return from last year\u2019s unit while three portalled linemen try to fill in the gaps. Former Georgia Tech center Harrison Moore was an excellent run blocker. T.J. Shannahan from Penn State was ok at both run and pass blocking, while Stanford\u2019s Emeka Ugorji was a liability in run blocking but decent in pass blocking. A combination of them plus the holdover\u2019s from last year will have their work cut out for them.<\/p>\n Billy Napier only had one offense rank in the SP+ Top 25, and that was the 2024 group that ranked 23rd. So if his offense stunk, well, yeah, that\u2019s what it always did.<\/p>\n Given that Napier was an offensive coordinator you\u2019d think his offenses would have been better, but the real strength of his Florida teams were his elite defenses that ranked 9th and 2nd in 2023 and 2024 respectively. As Missouri fans, we know how important it is to have an elite-tier defense to pair with an underperforming, run-oriented offense and the downfall of the 2025 Gators was that Napier\u2019s defense had the audacity to slip from Top 10 to Top 50 without his permission.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n