Jon Sumrall explains how Florida’s identity has evolved since arriving in Gainesville
By Jacob Moss
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When the Florida Gators hired Jon Sumrall to replace Billy Napier in December of last season, they hoped he would finally restore the winning culture the program had been missing since the days of Urban Meyer and Steve Spurrier’s legendary tenures.
The former Tulane and Troy head coach had already proven he could quickly turn a program back into a winner, but it’s hard to imagine anyone expected him to have the kind of effect he’s had on the Gators in just 3 games.
It’s clear that Sumrall and his staff have completely shifted Florida’s identity. While speaking during the SEC Teleconference on Wednesday, Sumrall named the biggest shift in mindset since he arrived on campus.
I think our mindset has changed. I think we’re playing with a different level of resiliency and toughness than what I felt like was going on here when I got here. And I think our guys expect to win. So that’s one component, I think, that I’m pleased with. How we play the game, some detail, some consistency. There’s a lot of areas where you still have to improve upon a lot to become the type of team we want to be long term. And so, we’re a long way from a finished product here. We haven’t even begun to scratch the surface for what my vision is for how we play this game week in, week out. But I do feel like we’re headed in the right direction, but there’s still so much that we are not doing that we need to execute better, to play at a really, really high level, day in, day out.
Quotes like this are exactly why folks in Gator country are so excited about the program’s future under Sumrall’s guidance. It finally feels like they have a coach running the show who actually understands what it takes to win at the highest level again.
If Florida can knock off No. 4-ranked Ole Miss at home this weekend, the Gators could be in a prime position to make some noise in the SEC and College Football Playoff races down the stretch.
