Taking the stand for nearly an hour, new Florida head coach Jon Sumrall made a huge first impression.
From the moment he stepped up to the microphone, his energy and intensity was evident. He cracked jokes, thanked the players in attendance and even got choked up about how much being the Gators head coach meant to him.
But he made one thing clear: becoming Florida head coach isn’t the end of his mission. It’s the beginning of a tenure he says will be filled with success.
“The standard here is championships,” Sumrall said. “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.”
In the statement released Sunday announcing Sumrall’s hiring, he stated that a priority was to hire an offensive coordinator to lead an “explosive” offense, something he restated Monday.
“On offense, when I think of Florida football, I think aggressive, I think of explosive, I think about mixing tempos, using it to your advantage, and dictating the game to the opponent,” Sumrall said. “I think about stretching the field and threatening every blade of grass.”
Sumrall assumes the reins of a Gator team that ranked 102nd in the nation and 13th in the Southeastern Conference in total offensive output with 341.3 yards per game.
However, he stated that the core of a great offensive unit is already in Gainesville.
“It all starts with the quarterback and the pieces around him,” Sumrall said. “We'll get elite skill players here. We've got some already; we've got to keep them. Our o-line has to play with a demeanor that's nasty and that is a force to be reckoned with, and that'll happen.”
As of right now, that quarterback would be DJ Lagway, who struggled in 2025 after bursting onto the scene as a freshman in 2024.
In his past two years at Tulane, Sumrall played two different quarterbacks, Darian Mensah and Jake Retzlaff. Both players were effective, holding passer ratings over 141.1 in 2024 and 2025, respectively.
In terms of Florida’s skill position players, the Gators will look to retain running back Jadan Baugh and dynamic freshmen wide receivers Vernell Brown III and Dallas Wilson. The latter two were in attendance for Sumrall’s introductory press conference, alongside Lagway.
“I think we got some good football players,” Sumrall said. “I watched that game Saturday before I went and played Saturday, and I'm like, ‘Hey, can I give the ball to No. 13 [Baugh] 10 more times,’ because if an offensive coordinator doesn't know what to do, that's a pretty good choice.”
Sumrall will have work to do to replenish the Gators’ offensive line. Left tackle Austin Barber and center Jake Slaughter, two of UF’s top players regardless of position, are out of eligibility and are likely to be selected in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Florida’s offensive coordinator is yet to be determined. However, he will have a massive budget to do so.
Sumrall will receive a budget of $16.3 million from UF to hire assistant coaches and a support staff, per his contract.
“I may be a defensive guy, but I want to be more of a defensive guy like somebody Coach Spurrier knows: Bob Stoops,” Sumrall said. “I want the scoreboard to light up.”
Like Sumrall alluded to, he is a defensive head coach first, which stems from his playing days as a linebacker for Kentucky from 2002-04. He spoke on the need for Florida’s defense to be aggressive.
“Defensively we will swarm, and we will attack,” Sumrall said. “We will play with great pursuit of the football and relentless effort. We'll always be on the hunt because that's what Gators do. We're going to make our opponents uncomfortable. I want to be the most feared defense in the country.”
Florida’s defense was stout throughout a majority of the season but struggled down the stretch, surrendering 31-plus points in three straight games from Nov. 8-22.
However, just like he said about the offensive personnel, Sumrall expressed confidence in UF’s existing defensive roster.
“We've got some dudes on defense,” Sumrall said. “We've got some killers. So I'm fired up to coach those guys.”
Among those “killers” are more players who attended Monday’s press conference: edge rusher Jayden Woods, defensive lineman Michai Boreau and linebacker Myles Graham.
Those three were among the top performers on a UF defense that ranked No. 69 in the nation in total defense, allowing 376.8 yards per game.
Meanwhile, Tulane’s defense, which Sumrall has overseen over the past two years, has ranked No. 24 and No. 64 in that same metric over 2024 and 2025, respectively.
“I've been a part of some top-25, top-20 defenses,” Sumrall stated. “That's the goal. Sometimes the statistics matter, but I think how you play on all three phases can affect your defense, too. I think offense affects defense, kicking game affects both, defense affects offense. The stats, they are what they are. We'll work through how we improve pretty quickly.”
Sumrall’s tenure in Gainesville has begun, but he will also resume his duties at Tulane until the conclusion of their season. His Green Wave face North Texas in the American Athletic Conference championship game Friday. If they win that game, Tulane will likely be a part of the College Football Playoff, which begins Dec. 19.
Contact Max Bernstein at mbernstein@alligator.org. Follow him on X @maxbernstein23.
Max is in his sixth semester at The Alligator and now serves as The Alligator's Football Reporter and is a junior sports journalism student. He previously served as The Alligator's Sports Editor, and served as reporter for women's tennis, volleyball and lacrosse. He also has made multiple appearances on the Paul Finebaum Show. He wants to shoutout his cats, Scooter and Zoe, and niche former Florida Panthers players (shoutout Tomas Kopecky).
