Spring football is well underway in Gainesville. While Florida isn’t lacing up cleats on Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, there is still plenty to be said about the current state of Gators football.
Head coach Jon Sumrall and the new-look staff watched as the team passed ‘The Gauntlet’ and were able to move forward with spring practices just a week ago. The Gators have upward of 100 players on the offseason roster, and nearly half are new to UF.
Before Sumrall and Co. can hit the gridiron, the team has to become acclimated to the new culture of the Gators. The former Tulane head coach said he is focused on preparing the team to be both mentally and physically tough, but that it may take more time than some realize.
“You can’t beat anybody until you don’t beat yourself. We’re a long way away from being a team that doesn’t beat ourselves,” Sumrall said. “We have a long way to go in every area, physicality being one of them. Do I see flashes of us being physical? Yes. Is it down-in, down-out to the state we’re going to have to play at to be competitive and win this league? No, not yet.”
Florida has been practicing every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday since passing the ever-looming gauntlet test. While there are about six months until the first action of the regular season, the Gators have a long road ahead of them.
Sumrall retained the five key pieces in Jadan Baugh, Vernell Brown III, Myles Graham, Dallas Wilson and Jayden Woods, taking an immense step in the right direction. The 43-year-old made keeping the weapons an immediate need in the offseason.
While spring practice is still creeping into Gainesville, coaches and players alike have been keen on what it takes to make a difference both on the field and in the locker room.
“The process I want to do is win right now,” Sumrall said. “I’m a little uncomfortable because we’re so far away from where I want us to be. I’m a little on edge. We’re just so far away that we can’t be casual, we can’t be complacent, we can’t be lethargic.”
Defensive line coach Gerald Chatman is entering his third season with the Gators. He coached a group that finished No. 9 in the country in red zone defense and finished with at least one turnover in 10 consecutive games last season.
Among this year’s group are redshirt sophomore LJ McCray, senior Kamran James and redshirt junior Brendan Bett. The trio is returning to the team and will be expected to bring a veteran presence to a unit that lost defensive linemen Caleb Banks, Tyreak Sapp and George Gumbs Jr.
“Today I yelled at them, ‘Hey, I can’t be the only one that’s yelling, I need that to come from you more,’” Chatman said. “Demanding leadership, that’s the phase we’re in right now.”
Another returning defensive standout is Aaron Chiles. The junior sits among a linebacker core with Woods and Graham. The two were major contributors to Florida’s defense last season and pieces of the ‘fab five.’
“All of us are stepping up and being leaders, and showing by example the right way to do it, and setting the standard every day,” Chiles said.
The Maryland native notched 52 total tackles in his 2025 campaign, while also being placed on the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll. Chiles made his first collegiate start against Tennessee, picking up a team-high nine tackles.
Now, Chiles will set his sights on defensive coordinator Brad White’s unit. The former Kentucky defensive coordinator was brought in alongside Sumrall and offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner amidst the slew of new coaching hires.
“For us, it’s really a mental battle,” Chiles said. “We all have the talent, the skill, the size. The gauntlet really prepared us mentally that things aren’t going to be given and we’re going to have to earn it. The standard Coach White always says is ‘just be violent and play as fast as possible.’”
Chiles will play a key role in maintaining a level of excellence among the linebacker group and the team as a whole.
Sumrall said there are “challenges” for returners to take the reins when there is a massive influx of players new to the program, but that there are four pillars of leadership in order to take those strides.
“Level one is to lead yourself,” Sumrall said. “We need everybody to lead themselves, and then we need the guys that are not only doing things at a high level, but good players, to now call each other out.”
Whether it’s the morning practices or abiding by the grueling tasks of ‘The Gauntlet,’ Sumrall has implemented various expectations of Florida’s program in his four months of work.
“We have some guys that want to lead,” he said. “We have a lot of guys that are eager. We have to have everybody on the same page, headed in the same direction.”
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 Gymnastics and 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.
