ESPN college football analyst Adam Rittenberg revealed his grades this week for college football’s head coaching hires, the hires made so far at least, as a wild coaching carousel kicked into high gear at the end of the regular season.
That carousel included a litany of SEC teams changing head coaches for the 2026 season, with Florida being 1 of them. The Gators hired Tulane’s Jon Sumrall as their new head coach on Sunday, 1 day after a victory over rival Florida State mercifully ended their 2025 season. It was only UF’s 4th win of a forgettable year that saw head coach Billy Napier get fired earlier this fall after a 3-4 start to the season.
That season ended with a 4-8 record, and Florida didn’t waste any time announcing who its new man in charge would be for the 2026 season. It’ll be Sumrall, who right now has Tulane at 10-2 and in the mix for a College Football Playoff spot. Knowing that, Rittenberg gave the Sumrall hiring a solid B+.
Rittenberg liked Florida’s hire a lot and he thinks there is enormous potential there for success.
Sumrall has the ingredients to become the next great SEC coach. He’s an excellent communicator who connects with a range of people and should get Florida fans excited about the future, even if they might be skeptical at first because of his background,” wrote Rittenberg. “Florida isn’t where I initially saw Sumrall ending up in a wild coaching cycle, but if the school gives him some time, he should stabilize and elevate the Gators’ on-field performance and start getting more out of very talented rosters there.
Those are strong words from Rittenberg, and now it’s up to Sumrall starting in 2026 to back up those words with strong results.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
