It is either a breath of fresh air, or more fuel to the fire... Either way, the oxygen Jon Sumrall breathes in and what comes out of his mouth is a total departure from those bland press conferences Florida grew accustomed to under his predecessor Billy Napier. Sumrall took to the podium after Florida's first practice following spring break. He made it a point to say it was very obvious that is was the first.
A little more than a third of the way through spring ball, and Sumrall believes there is work to be done.
"Practice six today. It looked like we had spring break last week because we did. Felt a little bit like sometimes you come out of a bye week and you're trying to get the car restarted when it's been off for a few days. It's felt like that a little bit today for me."
He may view this stretch as offseason preparation for a bye week, but deep down inside, he is fuming!
"We will have a bye week during the season, so it's a decent sort of dry run of what that looks like for our guys to some degree. We'll do more in the bye week than they were allowed to do with them during spring break. But some of our guys probably had a little too much fun on spring break off the way some of the practice looked."
And of course, Sumrall addressed the elephant in the room on why he and his wife did not go to Italy.
"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.'"
Here is everything Sumrall had to say after Florida's practice on Tuesday, the first after spring break.
There is obviously a lot to unpack here, so let's get down to it: Is Sumrall sending the right message?
Jon Sumrall was less than thrilled with Florida's effort after spring break
Let's make one thing perfectly clear. When Sumrall came over from Tulane after the end of the Green Wave's run in the College Football Playoff, he knew he had work to do in Gainesville. This program had underachieved under his predecessor. Sumrall brought in over 50 new players into the equation this offseason. How will the pieces fit? He needs to find out fast, which is why no practice can be wasted.
While it makes all the sense in the world for Sumrall to approach this turnaround with a crashing sense of urgency, he has to come to grips with the fact that this is Florida, and not Tulane or Troy. He is not inheriting a job that largely ran itself. It was embarrassing for Florida to part ways with Napier that soon into his Florida tenure. Then again, it was necessary. Will Sumrall burn bright, or burn out?
The single most important thing here is Sumrall is not going to be about excuses. As long as he practices what he preaches, he can turn the football culture around in Gainesville. Should he devolve into talking out the side of his mouth, Florida players will tune him out as quickly as they did Napier, Dan Mullen, or anybody else who is not Steve Spurrier or Urban Meyer. This is the standard of Florida.
Right now, Sumrall seems to be dealing with the harsh reality that he is coaching a blue-blood brand with a roster that is not quite ready to be up to standard. What standard does he want to set? Sumrall has had great success at Tulane and Troy previously, but he only lasted two seasons at both spots. Is he really a coach on the rise, or is he a job-hopper who took advantage of easier coaching situations?
Ultimately, Sumrall does need to be given a grace period to turn this thing around in Gainesville. However, since he does seem to burn hot, these sort of comments at the podium could be shoved back in his face if he does not win a respectable amount by the middle part of year two. That is when it presents itself at a traditional power if you have the right head coach or not. Only time will tell here...
Spring break may have been fun, but it is about to be no fun under Florida's version of Herman Boone.