T-minus 213 days. Gators football has just over 30 weeks until it is set to face Florida Atlantic University at the Swamp to kick off the 2026 regular season. Until then, Florida’s coaching staff will hone in on the winning culture of the program.
Gators head coach Jon Sumrall made it a point to bring in coordinators who understand what the future of Florida football will look like. The Gators have had just one winning season across the last six, creating a win-now mentality for the first-year coach.
Sumrall’s first major addition to the staff was bringing on Brad White. Florida’s new defensive coordinator held the same position at Kentucky for seven seasons, but was ready to start new at Florida.
“It took about 30 seconds when [Sumrall] called and said, ‘hey would you be interested?’” White said.
The former Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle spent six seasons coaching in the NFL prior to his time in Lexington. He contributed to three consecutive playoff appearances when coaching in Indianapolis and back-to-back AFC South titles in 2013 and 2014.
Now, White will join forces with Sumrall for the upcoming season in Gainesville. The former Tulane and Troy head coach knows what it takes to rack up wins — Sumrall became the first coach in FBS history to make four conference title game appearances with two different schools in his first four years as head coach.
“At the end of the day, winners win,” White said. “He’s been a head coach for four years and he’s been to four conference championships. The resume speaks for itself.”
White’s group at Kentucky stacked up in the top-20 FBS teams in both scoring defense and total defense under his control from 2018-25. He helped develop 14 NFL draft selections, with six coming in the first two rounds.
“You talk about being able to get matched up, paired up with coach, and then the tradition of Florida, it was a no brainer,” White said.
Suiting up alongside Sumrall and White is Buster Faulkner. The Gators’ new offensive coordinator most recently served in the same position at Georgia Tech, aiding in the Yellow Jackets’ three straight bowl game appearances.
Faulkner made various stops along the way to UF. He had two separate stints with Georgia, spent two seasons with Valdosta State and one each with Central Arkansas and Murray State. Faulkner then spent 2011-15 as the offensive coordinator at Middle Tennessee prior to three seasons at Arkansas State and one with Southern Mississippi.
He spent time learning numerous different systems and cultures within each program. Sumrall said that’s what makes Faulkner special.
“What makes Buster unique, and I think great coaches do this, is you have to be adaptable,” he said. “When you evaluate offensive coordinators, you’re looking for people who can make the scheme fit the people.”
Faulkner’s ability to take varying schemes and continue to be successful is what contributed to stepping foot in Gainesville. He helped Middle Tennessee to back-to-back eight-win seasons and two bowl game appearances in the same number of seasons with Arkansas State.
Faulkner also has two national titles under his belt during his time with Georgia. He served as an offensive quality control assistant for quarterbacks with the Bulldogs. Faulkner’s QB room combined to rank No. 3 in the Southeastern Conference in passing efficiency and passing yards per game.
While he and Sumrall had yet to work together, the two were familiar with each other ahead of their time with the Gators. The duo vacation the same beach every summer, and Sumrall said he followed Faulkner’s career and the two kept in touch.
Outside of their relationship off the field and in the Sun Belt Conference, Faulkner was drawn to unite with the head coach due to the legacy he created across the last 20 years while sporting a headset.
“At the end of the day, I’m all about winning and how you win,” Faulkner said. “Across the profession, he’s known as one of the good guys. So it’s been awesome so far. I look forward to it. We’ve talked about this for a few years now.”
Faulkner will represent an SEC squad for the first season since hoisting the 2022 National Championship trophy.
“Florida is a great place and has a great tradition,” Faulkner said. “I look forward to helping restore what’s going on here in the past and I really believe that we can do it.”
Contact Riley Orovitz at rorovitz@alligator.org. Follow her on X @rileyorovitz.
Riley is a sophomore sports journalism student in her second semester at The Alligator. She is the beat reporter for Gators Swim & Dive while also contributing to the Gators Football Beat. She previously served in the same role in her first semester with the newspaper. Riley is an avid South Florida sports fan and enjoys playing/following all sports in her free time.
