![Florida head football coach Jon Sumrall supervises during spring practice at Sanders Practice Fields in Gainesville, FL on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_103,w_2682,h_1508/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ReutersImages/mmsport/213/01ky3ar8tevk486ktnma.jpg "Florida head football coach Jon Sumrall supervises during spring practice at Sanders Practice Fields in Gainesville, FL on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]")
Alex Golesh and Jon Sumrall are no strangers. The two coaches have taken a similar path to the SEC, coming from the American Conference where they coached at Tulane and South Florida respectively.
Two years ago, Sumrall's and Golesh coached their first American conference games against each other and history will repeat itself on September 19th when the Florida Gators travel to Auburn for the first time in nearly 15 years to kick off SEC conference play for both programs. Golesh was asked about Sumrall during his session at SEC Media Day, and he was very complimentary of the new Florida coach.
READ MIORE: Jon Sumrall and Alex Golesh are telling two very different stories
Auburn HC Alex Golesh on his relationship with Jon Sumrall:
— Andrew Abadie (@AndrewAbadie) July 21, 2026
"I respect how we works and his approach. He works as hard as anybody. His players believe in him.
"We have a long ways before we get to that Week 3 matchup, but boy will it be fun." #Gators
"Yeah, you know, Jon and I obviously competed against each other for a couple of years in the American. Gotten to know Jon well," Golesh said. "I respect how he works. I respect his approach. I think he works as hard as anybody. Players believe in him, which is — you can see when you turn the film on when you play against them."
Alex Golesh welcomes the chance to coach against Jon Sumrall
The two coaches have some similarities in their paths to the SEC, but the style of football they play is very different. Golesh's teams go fast on offense and when his team is rolling they can put up the points. By bringing quarterback Byrum Brown with him from USF, there should be no reason why the Tigers' offense can't reach a similar speed. But Golesh knows that Sumrall has stopped his offenses before and knows there's plenty of work to do between now and the conference opener.
READ MORE: Florida could catch Auburn before Alex Golesh has fully installed his offensive vision
I think smart, tough, gritty. That's what his teams are. That's what he's always been as a coach. Got a ton of respect for him. We've got a long way before we get to that week three matchup. It will be fun in Jordan-Hare week three Saturday night," Golesh added.
The first meeting between the coaches in 2024 was a 45-10 Tulane victory. There was a hope that both teams would meet in the American Conference Championship game last season, but the Bulls had an untimely loss to Navy that eliminated them from contention. One wouldn't think that Golesh would want to talk too much about Sumrall, but he had to avoid some of the local Tampa media after he said some rather unflattering things about his former school on the way out of town. Auburn, as they have done with many coaches in the past, stepped in to protect him.
Sumrall won't have anything to run from Wednesday when he takes center stage at SEC Media Day. And the Gators won't be running away from the Tigers in Week 3 of the college football season, especially when Sumrall's preference is for the Gators to run right through them.
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