Jon Sumrall’s latest quote is another stark contrast to Lane Kiffin

One of the major storylines within college football from this past season was when Lane Kiffin opted to jump to LSU, and Ole Miss told him to take a hike rather than coach the Rebels in the playoffs. Ole Miss would go on to the semifinals, which included a win over Jon Sumrall and Tulane. Surmall was granted permission to keep coaching at Tulane rather than being forced to come to Gainesville right away.

Sumrall has highlighted how crazy of a month that was for him, but he also highlighted this week just how important finishing things out at Tulane was.

Jon Sumrall claims finishing at Tulane was crucial

Speaking at the SEC Spring Meetings, Sumrall was asked about his transition from Tulane to Florida. Sumrall made it clear that if Florida had put its foot down and not allowed him to finish the season with Tulane, he wasn’t going to get on a plane to Gainesville:

“I would have stayed at Tulane and not taken any other job. I was not going to leave a team playing for a championship to go coach another team. That's not in my DNA. I ain't built like that. Couldn't do it. I just couldn't. 

That's not a shot at anybody. Honestly, it's not. So if Florida or any other school that wanted to offer me their head coaching job, was going to tell me the terms they needed to be on, the answer for me was I can't take the job, sorry. I just can't do it. Because those kids had given me just too much. And it just was, I don't know, it wouldn't have been fair. 

Now, I went into my team meeting at Tulane when I let them know I was leaving. And I said, hey, do you all want me to coach in the game or no? Like, hell yeah, you're our coach. So I was like, all right, coach. But if they told me no, I would have gotten out. But they all were like, yeah. We didn't come this far individually. Like, let's finish this thing.” 

Take Kiffin out of the equation, and however his situation went down, Sumrall’s messaging and attempts to not burn bridges with Tulane have been in stark contrast to how Alex Golesh has handled his exit from USF to Auburn. 

And there is an honest debate to be had as to how much being a decent human being translates to wins on the football field. Until he spurned Florida for LSU, most Gator fans were willing to take that trade-off with Kiffin as long as it led to a return to the mountaintop.

But it’s also why if Sumrall does get Florida back among the elites, he might be a true unicorn in a profession filled with people who often only look out for themselves.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow