Now that Jon Sumrall is the pick to be the next head coach of the Florida Gators, comparisons to Billy Napier are already ripe. When the national media tries to paint Sumrall as a "winner," just remember that Napier had that moniker, too, before coming to Gainesville.
But when one looks back at the Billy Napier Era, there is one key trap that he fell into that Jon Sumrall can't repeat if he intends to make it in Gainesville.
Jon Sumrall must hire better assistant coaches than Billy Napier
As we highlighted with our end-of-season coaching report cards for 2025, one of the chief flaws Napier had was that he hired assistant coaches who had no business being in the SEC.
Napier made it a habit of hiring his Sun Belt buddies, and it was clear his staff was filled with amateurs. By the end of Napier's tenure, it was obvious he was just trying to get his friends a payday.
On the offensive side, Napier brought over QB coach Ryan O'Hara to be the QB coach despite having never worked in a Power Four program before. It showed as QB play always regressed.
Napier hired Russ Callaway to be the tight end's coach and "offensive coordinator." Callaway at least had a cup of coffee in the NFL before coming over, but Florida's tight ends looked awful, and Callaway never called a play.
Rob Sale was in charge of the offensive line. He had one year with Georgia, one year with Arizona State, and one year with the New York Giants as his experience before coming to Florida.
Napier went through three defensive coordinators in four years, all of whom had next to no Power Four experience prior to Florida. The defensive staff was also largely filled with misfits who were getting their first taste of Power Four football with the Gators.
The point is, Napier doomed himself at Florida by thinking he could transfer over his staff from Louisiana and make it work.
If Sumrall is going to make it work in Gainesville, he has to cut ties with his Tulane staff and look for guys with legit, proven Power Four experience.
Because the last thing Gator fans need is another coaching staff that has to learn on the job.