Jon Sumrall and Alex Golesh are telling two very different stories

Admittedly, when it was clear that Lane Kiffin was not going to be an option to be the head coach of the Gators for 2026, we here at Hail Florida Hail made the case for then-USF coach Alex Golesh. It wasn’t so much that Golesh was our first choice, but compared to the other options available, he seemed to fit the mold of what would work at Florida. He’s offensive-minded and already has inroads within the state of Florida.

Florida, of course, would go on to hire Jon Sumrall while Golesh would get hired by Auburn.

As the offseason has progressed, though, it feels more and more clear that while Sumrall and Golesh are trying to sell similar visions to their new fanbases, the means by which they are doing it feel drastically different.

Florida takes on Aubrun in week three of the 2026 season

Whereas Tulane fans seem mostly understanding about Sumrall moving on to Florida, there is a large contingent of USF fans who seem downright happy that Golesh is no longer in Tampa. His latest poking-the-bull moment came in a USA Today piece where he basically gave USF a retroactive middle finger:

“I felt like you could win a national title here, where, at South Florida, I think you and everybody else know you never were going to get there.”

One might say, “Well, duh, he’s not wrong, so what’s the big deal?” And Sumrall himself has made the goal of one day winning a national title a core part of his offseason messaging.

Where the difference in stories being told comes into play is that Sumrall has come to Florida and seems willing to embrace the resources Florida offers to upgrade from the players and staff he had at Tulane. Not to mention, Sumrall has made sure to be very complimentary of Tulane every step of the way since coming to Florida.

Meanwhile, Golesh talks about winning a national title when he couldn’t even win the American Conference with the same USF coaching staff he brought with him to Auburn, along with 13 players who played for him last year. His crowning achievement at USF was essentially beating the worst Florida team in history off a last-second field goal.

Throw in the fact that Sumrall has made it a point to embrace Gator Nation and has gone on every podcast he can find to sell himself to Florida fans, while Golesh has been known to DM people who dare to say the slightest negative thing about him.

Is now a good time to also point out that Florida has a top ten recruiting class brewing while Auburn has two total commits heading into May?

So while Golesh tries to portray strength with his “Fe” mantra of “**** Everyone,”  it is worth pondering how much of that strength is fool’s gold. 

Because if one has to tear everyone else down on their way up, are they really that strong in the first place?

Florida and Auburn fans will find out in week three of the 2026 season.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow