{"id":65044,"date":"2025-11-30T04:26:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T04:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/65044\/"},"modified":"2025-11-30T04:26:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T04:26:10","slug":"florida-has-deal-in-place-with-coveted-head-coaching-candidate-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/65044\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida \u2018Has Deal in Place\u2019 With Coveted Head-Coaching Candidate: Report"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">As the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/topic\/college-football\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">college football<\/a> world waits with bated breath to find out where Lane Kiffin will be in 2026, other college programs are beginning to wind down their own head-coaching searches.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">So far, four schools have hired new head coaches during this cycle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">James Franklin landed with Virginia Tech after being fired from Penn State back in October, while Colorado State poached Jim Mora Jr. from UConn, Stanford poached Tavita Pritchard from the Washington Commanders, and Eric Morris jumped ship from North Texas to Oklahoma State.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">And while there are a few other moves expected to be finalized in recent days, one of the more intriguing teams to watch is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/topic\/florida\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Florida<\/a> Gators.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">According to Yahoo Sports\u2019 Ross Dellenger, Florida has a contract already in pace with its top Kiffin consolation prize: Tulane\u2019s Jon Sumrall.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\"> More News: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/sports\/ncaa\/auburn-rejected-by-top-head-coaching-candidate-report-11129825\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Auburn Rejected by Top Head-Coaching Candidate: Report<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img id=\"11130877\" alt=\"The FLorida Gators reportedly have a deal worked out for a new head coach\" caption=\"Jadan Baugh #13 of the Florida Gators celebrates with teammates after scoring a touchdown against the Florida State Seminoles during the fourth quarter of the game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on November 29, 2025 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs\/Getty Images)\" credit=\"\" sourcealt=\"\" sources=\"[]\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"5709\" height=\"3806\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" style=\"color:transparent;aspect-ratio:inherit;object-fit:cover\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2249104363.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">More News: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/sports\/ncaa\/former-nfl-head-coach-gaining-momentum-for-penn-state-job-11128337\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Former NFL Head Coach Gaining Momentum for Penn State Job<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">\u201c(Ole Miss AD Keith) Carter has already begun this week engaging with candidates, most notably Tulane\u2019s Jon Sumrall and USF\u2019s Alex Golesh, sources tell Yahoo Sports,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/college-football\/breaking-news\/article\/lane-kiffins-future-hangs-in-doubt-after-meeting-with-ole-miss-brass-022358412.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dellenger wrote<\/a>. \u201cHowever, Florida pivoted from Kiffin to Sumrall, as Yahoo Sports reported on Tuesday, and the Gators and Sumrall are believed to have a deal in principle. A final decision from Sumrall is expected by Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">Up until this weekend, Sumrall was the favorite to be the next head coach at Auburn. Steven Godfrey of the Washington Post even reported that Sumrall to Auburn was basically a done deal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">\u201cAs of right now, Jon Sumrall is going to Auburn,\u201d he emphatically stated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">More News: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/sports\/ncaa\/unexpected-favorite-emerges-for-auburn-job-after-jon-sumrall-florida-rumors-11128394\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Unexpected Favorite Emerges for Auburn Job After Jon Sumrall-Florida Rumors<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img id=\"11129303\" alt=\"Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall\" caption=\"Head coach Jon Sumrall of the Tulane Green Wave looks on during the game against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on September 20, 2025 in Oxford, Mississippi.\" credit=\"(Photo by Justin Ford\/Getty Images)\" sourcealt=\"\" sources=\"[]\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2000\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" style=\"color:transparent;aspect-ratio:inherit;object-fit:cover\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1764476770_904_GettyImages-2237019335.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">More News: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/sports\/nfl\/shilo-sanders-makes-it-clear-which-nfl-team-he-wants-to-play-for-11129856\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Shilo Sanders Makes It Clear Which NFL Team He Wants to Play For<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">But when Kiffin reportedly eliminated the Gators from consideration, the school immediately shifted its attention to Sumrall, and he\u2019s now the current betting favorite to accept the job with 80% odds, according to Kalshi.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">The 43-year-old coach has a 42-11 career record inf our seasons with Troy and Tulane. He was named the Sun Belt Coach of the Year in 2022 in his first season with Troy. Sumrall has led the Green Wave to a 10-2 record this season, and they\u2019re on the College Football Playoff bubble.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the college football world waits with bated breath to find out where Lane Kiffin will be in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65045,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[143,28,30,29,142],"class_list":{"0":"post-65044","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-college-football","9":"tag-florida","10":"tag-florida-headlines","11":"tag-florida-news","12":"tag-ncaa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65044","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=65044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}