Jon Sumrall’s five smartest moves have transformed Florida’s offseason

Jon Sumrall was formally introduced as Florida’s head coach on December 1 amidst a wave of skepticism because he wasn’t Lane Kiffin. Count us among the skeptics, mainly because he fell in line with the exact type of bargain-bin hire that Scott Stricklin is notorious for.

But over the past eight months, Sumrall has been able to create a feeling of optimism and positivity in Gainesville to the point where even those among us who were skeptical at the start are at least willing to give him a chance heading into the 2026 season.

With fall camp set to open next week, these are the five smartest things Sumrall has done over the past eight months to foster a sense of goodwill among Gator fans.

Smart things Jon Sumrall has done in the offseason

Hire Phil Trautwein

Billy Napier had notably assigned two of his primary assistant coach slots to the offensive line, and the product on the field made it seem like he had assigned none. The Dan Mullen Era wasn’t much better along the front lines.

So while Sumrall has been left with an offensive line unit that has a ton of question marks surrounding it, he went out and hired former Gator great Phil Trautwein to lead the unit. Trautwein is considered one of the best assistant coaches in the country, and the move has already paid dividends as Florida has three top 150 overall commits along the offensive line, including five-star Maxwell Hiller.

Hire Buster Faulkner

Part of the opposition to Sumrall is that Florida fans wanted an offensive coach. Sumrall is a grindstone defensive coach.

But in a borderline stroke of genius, Sumrall went out and hired one of the best up-and-coming offensive coordinators in the country when he pried Buster Faulkner away from Georgia Tech, which in turn also gave him QB Aaron Philo. Gator fans are excited because, on paper, it feels like we are finally going to have an offense that lets Florida’s playmakers do their thing in space.

Jettisoned DJ Lagway

Most Gator fans have nothing personal against DJ Lagway. When most take a step back, they will acknowledge that his failures in 2025 were as much a byproduct of trying to operate Billy Napier’s Ask Madden offense as they were issues with Lagway himself.

It feels clear, though, that Lagway had intentions of coming back to Florida in 2026, and then he had his meeting with Sumrall that changed that. The initial narrative one could have painted is “Man, Sumrall is a lost cause already if he can’t retain Lagway.” In reality, based on the interviews and offseason features Lagway has had, Lagway and Sumrall would have never been a fit for each other.

The easy thing for Sumrall to have done was to panic and feel like he needed to keep Lagway. But it is just as important for the face of the team also to have the personality of the head coach, so the end result is best for both parties.

Played a real spring game

So many coaches in the modern era are seemingly afraid of doing anything that resembles real football for their spring game. And while Florida didn’t televise their spring game, much to the chagrin of many, they did open The Swamp and attempted a mostly real game of football.

The result was showcasing an offense that feels like it will be different; Florida’s QB battle made it seem like both of Florida’s potential QBs know what they are doing, and it was a useful exercise to remind the offensive line that nobody has earned anything just yet.

All in all, it was a productive afternoon.

Went on a podcast tour

Knowing he wasn’t the first choice for Gator fans, the easy thing Sumrall could have done was to lock himself up in a cave and try to grind things out behind the scenes. Instead, he faced Gator Nation head-on and made it a point to appear on every Florida podcast he could find as a way to introduce himself to Florida fans.

The result is that Sumrall was able to win over most fans with his intensity and mindset. He has been asked virtually every question possible at this point and he hasn’t flubbed once.

Being a great podcaster doesn’t necessarily make one a great football coach. But the fact he can articulate his vision far better than the previous guy has gone a long way in the eyes of Gator fans.

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