![Sad Gator players sing after Oklahoma beat Florida at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, November 7, 2026. Gators lost 23-7. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_3000,h_1687/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ReutersImages/mmsport/213/01m6wr7bf7e2331xr49c.jpg "Sad Gator players sing after Oklahoma beat Florida at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, November 7, 2026. Gators lost 23-7. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]")
All offseason, Jon Sumrall talked about how, as much as he has a long-term vision for Gainesville, he also had a plan to string together some wins in 2026. And on the surface, it seemed like he was building a squad that was going to have more of a fight to it than what we watched under The Man in the Black Polo.
But with three games to go in the 2026 season, one has to wonder if the attitude and swagger Florida fans thought they were getting have been put on pause until the 2027 season.
Jon Sumrall addresses the attitude of the Gators after Oklahoma loss
In his postgame press conference, Sumrall was asked whether or not he felt Florida was lacking in attitude and toughness. Sumrall touched on themes that he has highlighted after previous losses:
“I think our attitude has been, for the stretch we've been on, relatively good, if you will. I define attitude as your demeanor, your drive, and your desire. Demeanor is your body language. Drive and desire are how badly you want to do something. I think we're learning that right now. I told our team, tough things, when you go through really tough things, that reveals what you're made of. I'm frustrated. Our whole team is frustrated. If you're not frustrated, our fan base, I know they're frustrated.
And I appreciate that we got a fan base that's pissed off that we played the way we did tonight. But my attitude's unwavering to the long-term build that we're going to do here. I can't speak for everybody, but my attitude, like, while I'm pissed off, I'm also maybe more hungry right now than ever to get this right. And that's not going to change.
I do think when things are going really, really bad, your toughness gets challenged- mental toughness- and we have to respond. You're either built for this or you're not. And I'm a competitor. I'm going to challenge our guys every day to keep bringing it. We're not where I want us to be. I don't think we're where anybody wants us to be.
And sometimes, you know, failure is not fatal unless you allow it to be. And it doesn't mean I'm okay failing forever. Like, we've got to get this right. We've got to stop the train going the wrong direction and make it go back the right way. But we have to, more importantly, for the long-term build of what we're trying to get done, we've got to grow and keep responding when things aren't going good.”
In one breath, it is refreshing that Sumrall isn’t trying to make excuses for Florida’s lackluster play, unlike the previous guy.
But in the next breath, he says he likes Florida’s attitude. And while he can point out that behind-the-scenes guys are frustrated and that he and his staff are going to continue to challenge guys, we have to wonder whether Florida’s players are actually responding to that challenge.
The optics problem from Saturday night is that almost no one for Florida had a spark. There were moments here and there, and we would highlight Duke Clark as the one guy we don’t want to lump into this category. But if Sumrall is challenging his team and his team is still lifeless, who does that fall on?
Florida is now 5-4 and faces Kentucky next week.
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