Jon Sumrall contract: CFB insider reveals Florida head coach’s salary
By David Wasson
Published:
Florida tapped Tulane coach Jon Sumrall as the new boss in Gainesville, picking a Group of 5 powerhouse coach with a sterling resume and an SEC lineage.
According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Sumrall and Florida are finalizing a 6-year contract to coach the Gators worth an average of $7.5 million per season. The deal also has significant incentives tied to Florida earning a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Tulane had reportedly offered to bump up Sumrall’s current deal with the Green Wave from $3 million to $4 million per season, but the Gators deal is significantly more lucrative – both in financial reward, vastly increased resources and the ability to succeed in the SEC.
Sumrall, 43, has deep SEC ties. He played at Kentucky from 2002-04 before being medically retired. He coached linebackers at Ole Miss in 2018 under head coach Matt Luke before moving to Kentucky to first coach linebackers and then serve as the Wildcats’ co-defensive coordinator under head coach Mark Stoops.
Sumrall departed Kentucky to become the head coach at Troy in 2022 and found instant success. The Trojans went 12-2 and won the Sun Belt crown in Sumrall’s first season and then went 11-2 with another Sun Belt title in 2023.
Tulane plucked Sumrall from Troy in 2024. He went 19-7 overall and 14-2 with the Green Wave, including back-to-back appearances in the American Conference championship game.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. He also hosts Gulfshore Sports with David Wasson, weekdays from 3-5 pm across Southwest Florida and on FoxSportsFM.com. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
