Florida reengages a wildcard candidate long considered off the radar

Even though all eyes are on Lane Kiffin, the Florida Gators are doing their due diligence in case Kiffin opts not to come to Gainesville. Zach Abolverdi of Gators Online has reported that Florida is set to meet with Tulane coach Jon Sumrall later this week about the opening at Florida.

This doesn't mean the Kiffin hype train has died down, but it also opens the door for a candidate who had seemingly been off the radar for the Gators.

Jon Sumrall to meet with Florida

Sumrall's Tulane squad is currently 8-2 overall, 5-1 in The American, and just came in ranked No. 24 in the CFP rankings. As the highest-ranked Group of Five team, Tulane would make the playoffs if the season ended today.

Florida fans saw Sumrall's Tulane squad last season in the Gasparilla Bowl in a lifeless effort by the Green Wave, but Tulane did enter the game with an array of opt-outs, including at QB.

Sumrall is in his 4th year as a D1 head coach. He spent two years at Troy and won the Sun Belt twice before departing for Tulane prior to last season.

He was floated among the early candadites to look at after Billy Napier was fired, but there hadn't been any reported public interest in Sumrall.

UPDATE

After the Jon Sumrall story was reported by Gators Online, Pete Nakos of On3 came out and reported that there would NOT be a meeting between Sumrall and Florida.

He noted these was a meeting on the books, but it has since been called off.

What changed? Who knows, but it is

Risky pathway

The risk when it comes to someone like Sumrall is that even though he has been coaching at the D1 level since 2007, he only has four years of Power Four experience, and three of those four years were as a position coach.

Even Billy Napier had more Power Four experience when he came to town.

And Sumrall might be a solid head coach, but he is also a defensive-minded coach, and the fit at Florida would be a questionable one, as most Gator fans are going to want an offensive-minded coach.

Given that Florida just swung and missed at a Group of Five coach, Sumrall would be a massive gamble to take.

It also could just be more smoke to try to drive up the price on Auburn, who is also in the running to land Sumrall.

And until Florida fans hear differently about Plan A, it isn't time to panic yet about who might be Plan B.