Tim Tebow shows ‘love’ for Jon Sumrall hire as Florida preps for Auburn showdown
Published:
Tim Tebow is as beloved a member of the Florida football fraternity as it gets. He’s a living legend to the folks in Gainesville.
But on Friday, in the leadup to Florida’s SEC opener at Auburn on Saturday night (7 p.m. ET, ESPN), the former Gators star quarterback and current SEC Network analyst showed some love to a member of the UF program who’s trying to earn his way right now — first-year head coach Jon Sumrall.
As Sumrall gets ready for his first foray into the SEC jungle as Gators head coach, Tebow told everyone exactly how he feels about Sumrall as SEC Network descended on the Plains for full coverage on the Florida-Auburn showdown. Nobody at Florida takes anything Tebow says lightly, and Tebow spoke from the heart about Sumrall on Friday.
“I liked him when we hired him. I love him the more that I’ve gotten to know him, as a coach but even more so, just as a guy,” Tebow said. “As a husband, as a father, like, one of the things that I feel that you have to have at Florida, it’s a great program but it’s not an easy program. There’s a lot of pressure. There’s a lot of eyeballs. You’re expected to do really, really good, and sometimes really good ain’t good enough. You have to have that charisma, confidence, that sometimes borderlines on arrogance.
“When we look at the really good coaches at Florida, specifically (Steve) Spurrier and Urban (Meyer). … You gotta have a swagger. We’ve had some really good coaches since, but no one who brought that ‘it’ factor. And I think Jon has the ability to bring that, and I’m hoping that continues to kind of develop.”
Sumrall has the Gators at 2-0 on the young season, with points galore to show for it. But the competition is about to heat up starting Saturday night with a trip to Auburn. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about Florida’s potential win total for the 2026 season:
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.
