Jon Sumrall to hire Tulane strength coach to same position at Florida, per report
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Jon Sumrall continued to load up on his Tulane staff members in bringing them to Gainesville to be a part of his first coaching staff at Florida in 2026.
Adding to Sunday’s list of Tulane-to-Florida staffers is the hire of Green Wave strength and conditioning coach Rusty Whitt to the same position in Gainesville. That news is according to the Orlando Sentinel’s Edgar Thompson.
Whitt spent the past 2 years in the same role at Tulane under Sumrall, so it would be a seamless transition for Whitt, coaching in the same role under the same head coach.
The hiring of Whitt comes right on the heels of 2 other reported hires that Jon Sumrall has made from his 2025 Tulane staff. There was the hire of Tulane special teams coordinator Johnathan Galante to the same position at Florida, which was reported by CBS Sports, and the hire of Green Wave run game coordinator and offensive line coach Evan McKissack to be UF’s new tight ends coach, which was reported by On3.
These 3 apparent hires from Tulane by Sumrall come 1 day after the Green Wave were eliminated from the College Football Playoff with a first-round loss to Ole Miss.
Whitt has an extensive history with Sumrall that will continue at Florida in 2026. Back in 2020, Whitt joined the staff at Troy as strength and conditioning coach, and he was retained there by Sumrall for the 2022 and 2023 campaigns.
After Whitt followed Sumrall to Tulane for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, the 2 will be reunited once again at Florida as Sumrall attempts to turn the Gators’ fortunes around in 2026. Whitt is 54 years old and has also coached at Texas Tech, Louisiana, Sam Houston State and Rice.
He also was the assistant strength and conditioning coach at William & Mary, Louisville and Army, so his experience in the role is extensive and Sumrall wants to keep that continuity he has with Whitt rolling at Florida.
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.
