Patience is a virtue. While Jon Sumrall is a lot of things, a patient man is not one of them. The new Florida head coach comes to Gainesville by way of Tulane and Troy previously. Although the Green Wave and the Trojans compete at the Group of Six level, he did extraordinary things during his two-year runs at both schools. This is why Gator Nation could expect a quick turnaround under Sumrall.
Sumrall spoke with On3's J.D. PicKell on how things are going at Florida, and the state of the program.
"I don't know that we're anywhere near where we want to be roster-wise from a completion standpoint to build long-term year-in, year-out championship programs. But I think we've got enough here to go compete. And we've got to develop who's here to be the best they can be as we build as fast as we can build."
He continued by saying that he is not a patient man, and that he expects for winning to soon follow.
"Because I'm not real patient. I do have a long-term plan for what I want this thing to look like, also I want to win right now."
Here is the entire interview Sumrall had with PicKell over on On3 ahead of his first spring practices.
To be quite frank, this is all that Sumrall knows as a college football head coach. He went a combined 43-12 (28-4) over four seasons at Troy (2022-23) and Tulane (2024-25) before coming to Florida. We are talking about him winning 11 or more games a season for ranked Troy teams out of the Sun Belt, as well as leading Tulane to the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history last year.
What Sumrall may soon find out is competing in the SEC is nothing like competing in a G6 league...
Jon Sumrall expects for the Florida Gators to win right away under him
Part of what made Sumrall so special at the Group of Six level was how quickly he got his players to buy in. Sumrall preaches the greatest teams are the ones that are player-led. This appears to have been the case at both Tulane and Troy. However, we may be overlooking this in the grand scheme of things regarding those two jobs. Troy is a power in the Sun Belt. Tulane has been as beast in the AAC.
Yes, Florida has a richer and deeper football history than both of those schools. That being said, there have been extended challenging stretches for Florida football. Outside of the peaks associated with the Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer eras, Florida has had more than its fair share of disappointment on the college football gridiron. In short, turning Florida around is not going to be as easy of a fix here.
The good news for Florida fans is Sumrall seems to be a savvy football coach bursting with energy. This is a guy who makes plays, not excuses. The latter is what played a part in Billy Napier unraveling before our very eyes over the last two seasons. Surely, he will have success at his new post in James Madison, because like Troy has been for decades and Tulane has become recently, the job runs itself.
Ultimately, Florida and Sumrall are going to have to learn and grow together to ever get out of these doldrums they created for themselves. Sumrall was a highly-coveted coaching candidate this past offseason. Arkansas, Auburn, and his alma mater of Kentucky all wanted him in-conference, and Florida ended up landing him. Turning Florida around will not be easy, but Sumrall may be built to do it.
Look for Florida to surprise some teams within the context of conference play this upcoming season.