The receipts undermine Auburn fans’ revisionist history after Jon Sumrall chose Florida

In case one doesn’t spend their time on social media, there is quite the war brewing between Florida fans and Auburn fans this week. For long-time Gator fans, this actually shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Given that this Saturday will be just the second time since 2012 that the two teams have met in football, it's understandable if those looking in from the outside forgot that this was one of the more intense rivals Florida had prior to SEC realignment. 

Much of the squabbling has centered on Jon Sumrall and whether he was a serious candidate to take the Auburn job before coming to Florida. And while we here at Hail Florida Hail will be the first to admit he wasn’t the guy we would have chosen back in November, Auburn fans are trying to paint a narrative that Sumrall was never a real candidate in the first place.

Auburn wanted Jon Sumrall before he chose Florida

If we rewind to November, a huge reason why Florida fans initially had such a viseral reaction to Sumrall was that the Gators had just spent months trying to sell Lane Kiffin to the fanbase, only to get left out in the cold. Florida fans were given zero time to process Sumrall, and he felt like a carbon copy of The Man in the Black Polo before we got a chance to know him.

Auburn, however, very much made it known to their fanbase that Sumrall was a prime candidate, so it has been humorous to see Auburn fans try and claim that they rejected him and not the other way around.

On November 21, Auburn247 reported that “This week, there has been more and more positive buzz for Sumrall as the leader of this Auburn search.”

On that same day, ESPN’s Pete Thamel appeared on the Paul Finebaum Show and reported that “Yeah, I think Jon Sumrall has been a prime candidate and target from the start of that job. There’s obviously complications with Tulane being a potential Playoff team. But, it wouldn’t be a surprise if that’s where Auburn ends up.”

Fast forward to November 27, and Sumrall was still considered the betting favorite to become the head coach at Auburn, with -300 odds. On November 28, ESPN reported again that Auburn had “significant interest” in Sumrall.

Then on November 29, both CBS Sports and FootballScoop reported that even though Sumrall was a “top person of interest for Auburn,” he was not expected to land there.

Mike Gittens of The War Report would later report on November 30 that “Jon Sumrall soured on the Auburn job.”

Auburn fans trying to pivot on Jon Sumrall

This is where we chime in with the whole multiple things can be true at the same time:

1. Jon Sumrall was not the first choice for Florida fans.
2. Florida fans have since come around on Sumrall.
3. Auburn fans can be happy to have landed Alex Golesh.

We’ll dive in later in the week on which team should have the advantage, but let’s be clear that if Auburn wanted Golesh from the jump, he would have been the target from day one. Up until Sumrall spurned Auburn, Golesh was the prime target for Arkansas. Then, once it was clear the Florida job became open, Sumrall made his choice.

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