It would have been easy for Jon Sumrall to take the high road after Florida’s win over Auburn on Saturday. After all the reporting that was swirling back in November linking Sumrall with Auburn, Sumrall landed with the Gators. He is still an Alabama native, though, and his wife is an Auburn grad.
But we got a taste on Saturday night that Sumrall isn’t interested in worrying about who was trying to hire him or whatever happened in November. All he cares about is Florida.
Jon Sumrall cares about Florida and Florida only
During his post-game press conference, Sumrall was asked about interviewing with Auburn back in November during their own coaching search. Sumrall was short and to the point to clear that up:
“Who said I interviewed for this job? What are you talking about? I didn't interview. They didn't want me, I didn't want them."
Jon Sumrall's asked about Auburn and interviewing for the Tigers head coaching job: "Who said I interviewed for this job? They didn't want me and I didn't want them."
— Graham Hall (@GrahamHall) September 20, 2026
For what it is worth, there was significant and heavy reporting at the time that Sumrall was a top target for Auburn. Whether or not he interviewed is probably a matter of semantics.
But when Sumrall says, “They didn’t want me, I didn’t want them,” there is probably some truth to that on both fronts. The belief that Auburn fans have been floating is that Auburn was insistent that Sumrall was going to need to keep defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin on staff. And knowing what we know about Sumrall now, that was a non-starter for him, hence why he didn’t want them.
The comment is also perfectly in line with everything Sumrall has said since taking the job in Gainesville. He hasn’t tried to tiptoe around and pretend that he is invested in anything but Florida being successful. Now that he is a Gator, Sumrall has immersed himself in anything and everything about being a Gator.
And it’s why Florida’s fan base as a whole has bought in to Sumrall, even if he wasn’t the initial first choice. We joke about calling the previous coach the Gators had The Man in the Black Polo, but part of the very real optics issues was that the previous coach, who shall not be named at risk of being Beetlejuiced back into existence, wasn’t immersed in being a Gator.
Sumrall is.
This is what he wanted.
He came to Gainesville for a moment as he got on Saturday.
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