‘I’m a winner’ Jon Sumrall delivers strong first impression as Florida football coach

John Sumrall confidently took the podium at his inaugural press conference on Monday, December 1, as the 31st coach in Florida football story.

Sumrall, 43, made a strong first impression with themes of family, resilience, togetherness and the pursuit of excellence in trying to make a difference. Florida Gators a football that has endured four losing seasons in the past five years.

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“Championships are the standard here,” Sumrall said. “That's why I came. I was made for this job. I was made for this job. Winners win; I am a winner; We're going to win.”

Florida hasn't won an SEC or NCAA championship since 2008, and the last coach to lead them, Urban Meyer, attended the news conference along with Heisman-winning quarterback Danny Wuerrfel and Steve Spurrier, who led UF to six SEC titles and the first national title in school history.

Sumrall outlined his vision for the Florida football program, emphasizing that his goal is to serve the players and provide them with the opportunity to succeed.

“We're going to play with an edge, a blue-collar mentality and a chip on our shoulder,” said Sumrall, a former Kentucky linebacker and Huntsville, Alabama, native. “We will be tough. We will have grit. We will not overwork. We will play with passion and physicality. We will build our formation in all three phases around our players and their strengths.”

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As for the roster building, Sumrall said it starts with the current UF roster. Florida starting defensive tackle DJ Lagway and starting linebacker Myles Graham were among the players present at the news conference.

“Just got the chance to meet these guys,” Sumrall said. “In this day and age in college football, player retention is the most important thing to building a team. We need these guys to stay and this is my first recruiting effort.”

How quickly will John Sumrall get started with Florida football?

In conjunction with National Signing Day on Dec. 3, Sumrall said he had a Zoom call with half of UF's 2026 high school commitments on Sunday evening, Nov. 30.

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Sumrall will coach Tulane through at least the American Conference championship game on Dec. 5 against North Texas and possibly the College Football Playoff if green wave secure the Group 5 automatic bid. During the press conference, Sumrall thanked UF athletic director Scott Stricklin for giving him the opportunity to continue coaching his current team.

“We're committed to doing something special as a team, and I'd like to thank Tulane, Scott and Florida for allowing me to come back with my guys and finish this job off right,” Sumrall said.

From there, Sumrall will turn his full attention to UF's program heading into the 2026 season and beyond.

“We will do everything we can to win quickly.” Sumrall said. “I have a plan for how we can win in the long term, but I want to win tomorrow, today and every day. I have already mentioned my son. He is 12 years old. When we play basketball in the backyard, he gets his ass kicked because I want to win. I'm not very patient.”

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Sumrall went 42-11 in four seasons as head coach at Tulane and Troy, leading teams to at least the conference championship game in all four seasons. He led Troy to Sun Belt Conference titles in 2022 and 2023.

“John's record is impressive,” said Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin. “But what really gets him the reward is his mindset. He's determined to win. He creates teams that reflect his competitive personality, and he creates an environment where the players and staff understand what it takes to perform at a championship level every single day.”

Meyer had a strong first impression of Sumrall when they talked for about an hour a week ago about working at UF.

“We didn’t talk about NIL, we talked about the complexity of the program,” Meyer said. “I was very impressed… the toughness is something, we have to be tough this week, it's tough all year round, January, February, March, April and that's what impressed me. We started talking about the strength coach, the strength coach plays a big role in that.”

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Kevin Brockway – Gainesville Sun player Florida beat writer. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1. Read his coverage of the Gators' national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” – A collectible hardcover coffee table book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com.

This article originally appeared in The Gainesville Sun: John Sumrall is committed to bringing a winning mentality and toughness to the Florida football program.