With Florida legends on hand, new Gators coach Jon Sumrall promises to ‘just win a whole bunch’

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) – With legends Urban Meyer and Steve Spurrier sitting a few feet away and dozens of players lining the back of the room, new Florida coach Jon Sumrall took center stage Monday wearing a suit with orange and blue sneakers.

He crushed the fit – in more ways than one.

The Gators introduced their fifth head coach since Meyer stepped down in 2010 with much less fanfare than Lane Kiffin’s arrival would have created. But the 43-year-old Sumrall might just be better suited for a program in need of short-term success and long-term stability.

“It’s a challenge I embrace. It’s an exhilarating challenge,” Sumrall said. “I don’t know that I can measure myself to Coach Spurrier or Coach Meyer anytime soon. I’ve got a long way to go. I look forward to leaning on them, asking their opinion and advice. I feel very privileged to have two great resources like them that are a phone call away.

“I feel like I’m the luckiest guy in the world to have a phone-a-friend in those two.”

Athletic director Scott Stricklin turned to Meyer, Spurrier and 1996 Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel to help land Sumrall, who signed a memorandum of understanding Wednesday to leave Tulane and take over a Florida program that went 22-23 in four seasons before firing Billy Napier in mid-October.

Sumrall joked that he has a pretty decent Spurrier impression, but he saved that for another day. This was more about selling hope, and Sumrall did just that.

“Just win a whole bunch,” Spurrier chimed in from the third row.

Sumrall laughed, stepped back from the microphone, clapped his hands and rolled his fist through the air.

“We’re going to do that,” he added.

An undersized linebacker at Kentucky (2002-04) whose playing career ended with a neck injury, Sumrall returned to his alma mater for a three-year assistant stint before becoming Troy’s head coach in 2022. He won consecutive Sun Belt championships in two seasons with the Trojans and then enjoyed similar success at Tulane.

Sumrall is 19-7 in two years in New Orleans and led the Green Wave to the American championship game both seasons. So he has made four league title games in four years as a head coach. The Gators believe he could be Meyer 2.0.

This much is certain: He sounded nothing like Napier 2.0.

“We just need him to win,” Spurrier said. “And he can do it. You got to have that mindset. You can tell his mindset is different than some of these coaches we’ve had here in the past.”

Kiffin was Florida’s top target for months, but Stricklin shifted to Sumrall after getting lukewarm feelings about the chances of landing the Ole Miss coach with a history of drama – some of which showed up in recent days.

“There’s a lot of false information, a lot of twisted information and a lot of people trying to create narratives that benefit themselves,” Stricklin said. “I respect the decision he made at the end of the day. … He’s a fascinating guy.”

Declining to discuss where negotiations went wrong between Florida and Kiffin, Stricklin quipped, “I love where we are.”

Sumrall finalized a six-year, $44.7 million contract that will pay him $7.45 million annually. The deal also includes $16.3 million for his entire staff as well as postseason incentives that include $5 million for winning the College Football Playoff.

He was further down the road in negotiations with Auburn but spurned his wife’s alma mater when the Gators called. He embraced enormous – maybe even unrealistic – expectations and the challenge of getting Florida back to national prominence in a state filled with rivals and outside programs trying to poach talent.

“That passion and enthusiasm, the fire, that’s part of what attracted me here because I’m wired the same way,” Sumrall said. “The standard here is championships. That’s why I came. I’m built for this job. I was made for this job. Winners win. I’m a winner. We’re going to win.”

He tried to allay concerns about being another Group of Five coach from Louisiana – Napier came from Louisiana-Lafayette – by asking Meyer if he ever coached G5 football. Everyone knew the answer, of course, with Meyer winning at Bowling Green and Utah before landing in Gainesville.

“No two people are the same,” Sumrall said. “Judge me for who I am. I’m a winner. We’re going to win. Just give me a shot.”

Sumrall thanked countless people who helped him get to this point and dropped one name few expected.

“I may be a defensive guy, but I want to be more of a defensive guy like Bob Stoops,” Sumrall said. “I want the scoreboard to light up.”

That would be the ultimate fit for Florida.

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