![New UF head football coach Jon Sumrall speaks during a press conference at the James W. “Bill” Heavener Football Training Center in Gainesville, FL on Monday, December 1, 2025. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_2642,h_1486/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01kd5mjwpn4bqbm95xy7.jpg "New UF head football coach Jon Sumrall speaks during a press conference at the James W. “Bill” Heavener Football Training Center in Gainesville, FL on Monday, December 1, 2025. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]")
Jon Sumrall appears to be finalizing his staff in Gainesville for the 2026 season. After a slew of hires were reported on Sunday, the only spot left to fill was at running back to replace outgoing coach Jabbar Juluke.
As with almost all of his hires, Sumrall went to the Power Four level to grab an experienced coach to fill the slot.
Chris Foster to be the running backs coach for Florida in 2026
Multiple outlets reported that Chris Foster is set to become the running backs coach for the Gators for Sumall’s maiden voyage in Gainesville. Foster comes to Florida after one year at Duke and two years at Northwestern before that.
This year at Duke, he helped coach true freshman Nate Sheppard, a former low-tier four-star prospect, to 962 yard season, including 97 yards and a touchdown in the ACC title game. Duke would go on to beat Virginia to win the game and ultimately put James Madison into the playoffs.
His first Power Four experience came at Northwestern, where he spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons. The Wildcats had Cam Porter as their leading rusher, who was otherwise just a standard running back.
Prior to that, he spent a while at the Group of Six level, spending five years at Georgia Southern, then two years at East Carolina. While at Georgia Southern, he coached NFL running back Matt Bredia, and while at East Carolina, he helped Keaton Mitchell amass 1,452 yards in a single season, and Mitchell was named a PFF All-American in 2022.
Big shoes to fill
Fair or unfair, Foster is going to be compared to Juluke, who was among the few assistants from the Billy Napier Era who actually seemed to know what he was doing. The first order of business is going to be whether or not Foster gets to coach Jadan Baugh, who is still deciding on his future and whether or not he is going to hit the transfer portal.
But by adding Foster to the mix, it means that only one main assistant on Sumrall’s staff will come to Gainesville with zero previous Power Four experience (TE coach Evan McKissack).