Jon Sumrall appears to have his sights set on who will be the wide receiver coach for the Gators in 2026. According to multiple reports, the Gators are going after Marcus Davis from Auburn.
Like the rest of Sumrall’s hires, Davis would come to town with previous Power Four experience. But just how good were the wide receivers at Auburn during his time there?
That starts to get a little more complicated to explore.
Marcus Davis expected to become Florida’s wide receiver coach
Davis played at Auburn from 2013 through 2016. No, he is not the guy who returned the famous “Kick-Six.” That was Chris Davis, and the two are not related.
Marcus Davis spent time at Auburn after his playing days were done as a player personnel and development staff member, before being a GA at FSU, and then a brief stint at Georgia Southern before returning to Auburn for the 2023 season.
During his three years at Auburn as the wide receiver coach, Auburn’s offense was terrible and was never better than 76th in points per game. How much of that falls on Davis is up for debate, as he was hamstrung by the Hugh Freeze experience.
In terms of raw metrics, Auburn's wide receivers were 11th of 16 in the SEC in 2025 in terms of reception rate, and that was with having the 4th lowest average depth of target in the conference (how far down the field were the receivers down the field when targeted).
Translation:
Auburn receivers didn’t exactly get down the field, but still struggled to haul in passes thrown their way.
It’s also fair to state that Jackson Arnold didn’t exactly help his receivers out, and Davis is considered to be a solid up-and-coming coach in the business. Davis also played a big role in the recruitment of former five-star wide receiver Cam Coleman, who had over 700 yards in 2025. Coleman was also 26th in contested catch percentage out of the 84 wide receivers with at least 80 total targets.
Davis would replace outgoing wide receiver coach Billy Gonzales.