Kevin Brockway, Gainesville SunTue, December 2, 2025 at 1:37 AM UTC·4 min readJon Sumrall strode confidently to the podium in his introductory press conference on Monday, Dec. 1 as the 31st coach in Florida football history.
The 43-year-old Sumrall made a strong first impression, touching on themes of family, toughness, togetherness and pursuing perfection in trying to turn around a Florida Gators football that endured four losing seasons in the last five years.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"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."
Florida hasn't won an SEC and NCAA Championship since 2008 and the last coach that guided them there, Urban Meyer, attended the press conference, along with Heisman-winning quarterback Danny Wuerrfel and Steve Spurrier, who guided UF to six SEC titles and its first national title in school history.
Sumrall laid out his vision for the Florida football program, emphasizing his goal is to serve the players put them in positions to be successful.
"We're going to play with an edge, a blue-collar mindset, and a chip on our shoulder," said Sumrall, a former Kentucky linebacker and Huntsville, Alabama, native. "We will be tough. We will have grit. We will not be outworked. We will play with passion and physicality. We will build our scheme in all three phases around our players and their strengths."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAs for roster building, Sumrall said it starts with UF's current roster. Florida starting quarterback DJ Lagway and starting linebacker Myles Graham were among players who attended the press conference.
"Just got the chance to meet with those guys," Sumrall said. "Retention in these days of the college football world is the most important thing to build a team. We need those guys to stay, and that's the first recruiting effort I have."
How quickly will Jon Sumrall get to work with Florida football
With National Signing Day on Dec. 3, Sumrall said he was on a Zoom call with half of UF's 2026 high school commitments on Sunday night, Nov. 30.,
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSumrall will coach Tulane at least through its American Conference championship game on Dec. 5 against North Texas and possibly through the College Football Playoffs if the Green Wave secure the automatic Group of 5 bid. During the press conference, Sumrall thanked UF athletic director Scott Stricklin for giving him the opportunity to continue to coach his current team.
"We're in pursuit of doing something special as a team, and I'd like to thank Tulane and Scott and Florida for allowing me to go back with my guys and finish that job the right way," Sumrall said.
After that, Sumrall will put his full attention into the UF program to prepare for the 2026 season and beyond.
"We're going to do everything we can to win fast." Sumrall said. "I have a plan for how we can win long-term, but I want to win tomorrow and today and every day. I already referenced my son. He's 12. When we play basketball in the backyard, he gets his butt kicked because I want to win. I'm not very patient."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSumrall has gone 42-11 in four seasons as a head coach at Tulane and Troy, leading teams to at least the conference championship game in all four seasons. He led Troy to Sun Belt Conference titles in 2022 and 2023.
"Jon's record is impressive," Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin said. "But what truly sets him award is his mindset. He is wired to win. He builds teams that reflect his competitive identity, and he creates environments where players and staff understand what it takes to perform at a championship level every single day."
Meyer came away with a strong first impression of Sumrall when they spoke for about an hour a week ago about the UF job.
"We didn't talk about NIL, we talked about toughness of a program," Meyer said. "I was really impressed ... toughness is something, we're going to be tough this week, it's tough all year around, January, February, March, April, and that's what impressed me. We started talking about the strength coach, the strength coach has a big hand in that."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementKevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Jon Sumrall aims to bring winning mindset, toughness to Florida football program
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