It’s been a long offseason for Florida fans, but we will finally be getting to a place where there is a light at the end of the tunnel as the Gators are set to begin fall camp this week. One of the things that powered this offseason for Gator fans has been the constant quips of Jon Sumrall, some of which went viral because we had nothing else to talk about this offseason.
So let’s take a look back at some of Sumrall’s most viral moments from this offseason and also be thankful at the same time that real football it just around the corner.
Jon Sumrall’s most viral moments from Florida’s offseason
Jon Sumrall has two phones
One of the subplots when Sumrall was hired at Florida was that he still had a team to coach his Tulane Green Wave in the playoffs. Ironically, he was taking on Ole Miss, who had lost their coach before the playoffs.
To say Sumrall was a mad man during this time is an understatement, and at one point he tweeted out a photo of himself with a split Florida and Tulane polo with the caption “I’ve got 2 Phones, 2 Jobs & 2 hours of sleep.”
That tweet currently has 23K likes.
Christmas tweet signaled great news
Sumrall’s first massive test was his ability to retain Jadan Baugh. Sumrall highlighted Baugh at his introductory press conference and went as far as a now-famous Christmas Eve trip to visit Baugh at his home in Georgia.
Fans still were not sure what would come from the visit, but Sumrall tweeted a simple Gator emoji on Christmas Day, which had Florida fans speculating. As things would play out, the tweet was in reference to getting Baugh to stay in Gainesville.
DJ Lagway leaves
The other huge news in terms of roster construction was the departure of DJ Lagway to Baylor. At first it felt like Lagway would stay and be a building block for Sumrall, but it was clear that the two weren’t a fit for each other.
Sumrall would later state in January that he told Lagway:
“This culture is going to be built on toughness and love of football. If you fit that, great. If you don't, then that's not going to be good.”
Bring back Tim Tebow
One of the things that we learned quickly with Sumrall is that he has a genuine sense of humor to him that not everyone in the country has picked up on. With elegibility rules changing by the day, Sumrall made a quip in a February press conference that:
“I wasn't planning on sharing this today, but we're going to file a temporary restraining order and see if Tim Tebow can play short yards and goal line quarterback.”
It was obviously a joke, but some people missed it.
Sumrall family doesn’t go to Italy
Another quip that seemed to upset some people genuinely was when spring practice opened and Sumrall admitted that he wasn’t going to take a previously planned trip to Italy with his wife because of the work he needed to do in Gainesville.
After the moment went viral, Sumrall later clarified his comments:
“And to make sure I do address this, my trip going to Italy getting canceled was not just my decision. Okay, my wife, I caught a little s**t over that. My wife, she's all in. She's a football coach. She's a better head coach's wife than I am a head coach. And she actually, when I went through the process of deciding to take this job, she was the one who was like, 'Hey, that Italy trip, that's not going to work. You're going to have plenty to do. We're going to have to figure out how to move and all that stuff.”
Don’t let your phone go off
By the time SEC Media Days rolled around, most Florida fans had gotten to know Sumrall but that doesn’t mean that the rest of the country had been paying attention. During his appearance in Tampa, a reporter's cell phone went off, and Sumrall had some fun with the moment, commenting that he would throw a podium.
Like other moments from the offseason, not everyone caught on that Sumrall wasn’t being serious.
Battle of the feet
If ever there was a sign that we need this season to start, look no further than Sumrall’s enjoyment of pedicures going viral. In a lighthearted moment, his wife said in an interview that Jon enjoys getting a pedicure every couple of weeks.
Apparently, the internet couldn’t handle this, and it took a life of its own to the point that Dan Orlovsky was making fun of it on ESPN.
This led to Sumrall’s drop-the-mic moment, where he dug up an old clip of Orlovsky sniffing a shoe on air.
As we said, we are glad the season is upon us.
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