Florida hires Tulane's Jon Sumrall as new Head Football Coach (11/30/2025)

[Bazza]

Florida football is set to hire Tulane's Jon Sumrall as its next head coach, according to multiple reports.

Sumrall, in his second season at Tulane, has the Green Wave at 10-2 this season and in contention for a College Football Playoff berth. No. 23 Tulane (No. 24 in CFP) plays No. 22 North Texas in the American Conference championship game on Friday, Dec. 5, with the winner having a strong shot at reaching the 12-team bracket.

ESPN's Pete Thamel reports Florida is finalizing a 6-year deal with an average annual salary of $7.5 million. Yahoo! Sports' Ross Dellenger reports Florida expects Sumrall to accept the offer Sunday with an official announcement to follow.

Florida football to hire Tulane's Jon Sumrall as next head coach, reports

Florida is finalizing deal with Tulane's Jon Sumrall as its next head coach. Here's what to know about the ex-Kentucky LB as he returns to the SEC.

www.usatoday.com

 

[tusks_n_raider]

Florida football is set to hire Tulane's Jon Sumrall as its next head coach, according to multiple reports.

Sumrall, in his second season at Tulane, has the Green Wave at 10-2 this season and in contention for a College Football Playoff berth. No. 23 Tulane (No. 24 in CFP) plays No. 22 North Texas in the American Conference championship game on Friday, Dec. 5, with the winner having a strong shot at reaching the 12-team bracket.

ESPN's Pete Thamel reports Florida is finalizing a 6-year deal with an average annual salary of $7.5 million. Yahoo! Sports' Ross Dellenger reports Florida expects Sumrall to accept the offer Sunday with an official announcement to follow.

Florida football to hire Tulane's Jon Sumrall as next head coach, reports

Florida is finalizing deal with Tulane's Jon Sumrall as its next head coach. Here's what to know about the ex-Kentucky LB as he returns to the SEC.

www.usatoday.com

Congrats Bazza.

I hope he will be a better fit for you guys.

 

[Bazza]

 

[Moro Creek]

Congrats Bazza. JS will have some talent to work with. UF played very good against Free Shoes. Hope he does well. We need another good team in the conference to beat Ucheat and Gawga. JMO, he will still have a QB issue.

 

[Con]

Well @Bazza hopefully this thread lasts longer and ends better than the Billy Napier one. I don’t know a whole lot about him but I will soon.

 

[22Musso22]

Looks like you might have a keeper Bazza! Congratulations!

 

[Bazza]

Thanks, everyone.

I'm going to remain optimistic. We have a pretty good roster who I believe will be returning, so that's going to help.

It's official now:

University of Florida Names Jon Sumrall Head Football Coach - Florida Gators

Sumrall arrives in Gainesville after an unprecedented start to his coaching tenure.

floridagators.com

Pretty impressive bio at the above linked article - definitely worth a look.

Of note, Coach Sumrall was born in Texas but raised in Huntsville, AL:

A two-time all-Alabama selection and four-year letterwinner at Grissom High School, Sumrall was inducted into the Huntsville-Madison County Hall of Fame in 2023. He is married to the former Ginny Nixon, also of Huntsville, and they have four children: Sam, Sadie, Stella and Selah.

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We also have hired a new General Manager:

Florida hires ex-Jaguars GM Dave Caldwell after tabbing Jon Sumrall as next coach

Caldwell and Sumrall will usher in a new era of Gators football

www.cbssports.com

 

[BamaBoySince89]

Sumrall seems to be a good hire, just hope the fan base gives the man time

 

[rolltide7854]

Florida football is set to hire Tulane's Jon Sumrall as its next head coach, according to multiple reports.

Sumrall, in his second season at Tulane, has the Green Wave at 10-2 this season and in contention for a College Football Playoff berth. No. 23 Tulane (No. 24 in CFP) plays No. 22 North Texas in the American Conference championship game on Friday, Dec. 5, with the winner having a strong shot at reaching the 12-team bracket.

ESPN's Pete Thamel reports Florida is finalizing a 6-year deal with an average annual salary of $7.5 million. Yahoo! Sports' Ross Dellenger reports Florida expects Sumrall to accept the offer Sunday with an official announcement to follow.

Florida football to hire Tulane's Jon Sumrall as next head coach, reports

Florida is finalizing deal with Tulane's Jon Sumrall as its next head coach. Here's what to know about the ex-Kentucky LB as he returns to the SEC.

www.usatoday.com

I think of the hires announced today I think Florida got the best one.

 

[rolltide_21]

7.5 million for Tulane’s coach? Remember when Bama got flamed for making Saban the $4 million man?

 

[crimsonaudio]

Optimistic for you, Bazza, but as you know I'm not a fan of a blue-chip program (of which UF obviously is) hiring a G5 coach in hopes he pans out.

 

[Bazza]

Sumrall seems to be a good hire, just hope the fan base gives the man time

Optimistic for you, Bazza, but as you know I'm not a fan of a blue-chip program (of which UF obviously is) hiring a G5 coach in hopes he pans out.

Valid points, guys.

And because of how things worked out with Billy.........Sumrall's bar to win games has now been raised higher and his leash is a bit shorter.

For me a huge factor that differentiates between the two is how Billy's ego got the best of him and ultimately cost the team games. Sumrall seems to be more of a Spurrier "type A" personality - who puts winning ahead of everything else. To me he has much more "fire".

============

Ran across this last night.......

 

[Bazza]

This is encouraging. I was never convinced Napier had the correct attitude about wanting to win games.

The HBC: "You find me a guy who hates losing...he don't lose too much!"

https://twitter.com/x/status/1995612335550111888

 

[Bazza]

Excellent!

Jon Sumrall hires Buster Faulkner as offensive coordinator and Brad White as defensive coordinator.

Both got three-year contracts to join Sumrall in Gainesville and likely will be considered solid hires considering their experience in the powerhouse Southeastern Conference.

Faulkner, 44, joined Georgia Tech in 2023 after three seasons as a quality control assistant at Georgia, where he worked with quarterbacks for national title teams in 2021 and 2022. Stetson Bennett threw for nearly 7,000 yards and 56 touchdowns as a two-year starter.

Faulker found even more success in three years with quarterback Haynes King in Atlanta. King threw for 7,653 yards, with 53 TDs and 23 interceptions. He also ran for 36 scores.

The year before coach Brent Key and Faulkner arrived at Georgia Tech, the Yellow Jackets averaged 17.1 points. They improved to 31.1 points per game in 2023, 28.5 points a game in 2024 and 33.1 points a game this season.

Faulker’s offenses set records at Arkansas State (2016-18), landing him on Georgia’s radar. He played quarterback at Valdosta State (2000-03), where he learned the Air Raid attack first made famous by late coach Mike Leach.

The 43-year-old White spent the last eight years in Lexington, including seven of those in charge of the Wildcats’ defense. Sumrall and White overlapped on that side of the ball between 2019 and 2021, including working their final year together as co-DCs. Sumrall left Kentucky to become Troy’s coach in 2022 and spent the last two years at Tulane.

Under White’s direction, Kentucky fielded defenses that ranked in the top 25 nationally in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022. His unit ranked sixth nationally in 2018 thanks in part to edge rusher Josh Hines-Allen. Hines-Allen recorded 17 sacks and five forced fumbles as a redshirt junior.