Jon Sumrall says Florida not looking to add any ex-pros to 2026 roster
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Some college football teams are making late additions to their 2026 rosters, but don’t expect Jon Sumrall‘s Florida team to be one of them.
Sumrall appeared on The Paul Finebaum Show Friday. The subject of adding players came up, and Sumrall said the Gators are not in the market to do so. The first-year Florida coach said UF plans to follow the SEC’s recently adopted policy, and noted that the Gators would have to cut a player to make room for anyone else.
“I’ll say this, we’re not in a position right now where we’re adding anybody on our football team,” Sumrall said on Finebaum. And then we’re going to follow suit with what Commissioner (Greg) Sankey, our presidents, and athletic directors in our league voted upon. Our football team, our roster right now is currently full, anyways.
“And so to bring somebody on, we’d have to make a cut, which I’m not really interested in doing it for guys that have been here all summer training, preparing, and that sort of thing. This is college ball. If you’ve played pro football and you’ve been in that game, to me, that ship has sailed for you.”
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It's been a crazy week of legal cases and @CoachJonSumrall @GatorsFB aren't focused on adding anyone to their roster but getting ready for Week 1. pic.twitter.com/WeBjVIgJX0
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) August 28, 2026
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Numerous members of the Class of 2022 have taken legal action to apply the NCAA’s new 5-in-5 eligibility policy to them for the 2026-27 season. The various court decisions have been dizzying to follow for many.
Sumrall noted that he’s not against making late additions to the roster, but he won’t be trying to add any NFL signees seeking to play a 5th college season instead of beginning their professional careers.
“I’m always open to adding good players,” Sumrall said. “I added (former BYU quarterback) Jake Retzlaff last year in late July because I thought it’d make our team at Tulane better. And so you’re constantly figuring out how can you improve yourself as a team and find competitive advantages. But by everything that’s come out recently from our league office, I think it’s pretty clear that we’re not supposed to be trying to add those guys back to our roster.”
Sumrall’s Gators take the field on Sept. 5 when they face Florida Atlantic to open the 2026 season.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaign of Fred Taylor.
