When the Jon Sumrall hire was first announced, many Gator fans, including us here at Hail Florida Hail, had a visceral reaction and would have rather chugged a bottle of Malort than accept the Tulane coach. As Sumrall has given press conferences and filled his coaching staff, many of those pitchforks have been lowered for the time being.
A new list from ESPN not only praises Florida for the hire, but also highlights a trait Sumrall has that is the complete polar opposite of the guy who held his office before him.
ESPN gives Florida an A for the Jon Sumrall hire
ESPN put out a list ranking all 30 head coaching hires in FBS to this point. Coming in at No. 1 was LSU and some guy named Lane. Florida may or may not have tried to hire that guy.
But coming in at No. 4 out of 30 with an A grade were the Gators for landing Sumrall. Notably, on this list included Auburn at No. 12 for hiring Alex Goelsh, the USF coach many Gator fans would have rather pivoted to, and James Madison at No. 19, who hired some guy named Billy.
Of Sumrall, ESPN said:
“The dirty little secret about Tulane this season is, the Green Wave weren't actually great at anything. Sumrall had to rebuild a healthy portion of his depth chart after last season's nine-win campaign, and he ended up starting a quarterback who arrived in July. But through sheer will and adaptability, his team won 11 games and an American Conference title. That's three conference titles for Sumrall in four years as a head coach. He can put together teams and units with outstanding talent, but even when he doesn't, he finds a way to win.”
It’s the part about being adaptable that perked up our ears.
The reason why Billy Napier is now at James Madison rather than still at Florida is that, simply put, he wasn’t adaptable. Napier was so steadfast in his belief that his system was going to work, and even after losses droned on about “the process.”
As we have quipped multiple times, the hamster on a wheel has a process too. That doesn’t mean it’s going anywhere.
We still have our concerns with Sumrall as it relates to second-half adjustments and whether or not he is going to keep his foot on the gas when leading or just try to milk the clock to the finish line.
But what we do like is that he isn’t just going to stick to Plan A when it is clear it is not working.