After a long and winding search, Jon Sumrall is the frontrunner to land the job with the Florida Gators. The Tulane coach beat Charlotte last night to end the regular season 10-2 and will play in the American Conference title game next week.
But we want to look at how Sumrall stacks up with the rest of the coaching candidates out there. Some of these are legit Plan C options Florida is looking at, while some of these are guys we wish Florida would look at.
No. 7 - Glenn Schumann - Georgia
We have highlighted the Georgia DC throughout this search. There is probably more upside to him than we are willing to admit, and even though the Bulldogs are 12th in points against this season, there have been times where they haven't felt like the dominant defenses of past Georgia.
No. 6 - Brent Key - Georgia Tech
Allegedly, Florida's brass has tried to put Key on their radar throughout the search. But as we have said, the core concern with Key is that his style isn't really a great fit for Gainesville, and he tends to rely on low-margin-of-error games to win.
No. 5 - Jon Sumrall - Tulane
It's probably not a great sign that the guy Florida is probably going to hire is also No. 5 on our list. Sumrall is a "winner," but he also inherited a solid team at Tulane. He also plays a low margin of error style and he has frequently been outclassed when he has to play ranked teams.
No. 4 - Alex Golesh - USF
It looks like the deal to go to Arkansas is going to fall through, and Golesh has popped back up on the radar for Florida.There is more offensive upside with Golesh, though he, too, tends to be erratic from week to week.
No. 3 - Lincoln Riley - USC
There are reports out that Riley's camp tried to get in contact with Florida about the job opening, and Florida stonewalled him. Don't know if that is actually true yet, but his name is starting to surface with Penn State.
No. 2 - Jedd Fisch - Washington
The concern with Riley is that he always flounders when he has to face top ten opposition. And while he has had more success than Jedd Fisch, there is the potential for more upside with Fisch than with Riley. Fisch would also come at a lower price tag, and being a Florida alum does help.
No. 1 Brian Hartline - Ohio State
We ran an analysis of the top 25, and only four Power Four teams are led by a coach whose previous stop was the Group of Five. Fourteen of the teams ranked in the top 25 are led by a coach who was a coordinator right before getting hired intheir current role.
Would Brian Hartline be any good as a head coach? Who knows.
But it would make way more sense to give a five-year deal worth $10 million per than take a chance on getting the next Kirby Smart or Dan Lanning than the rest of the low-upside prospects on the board.