Auburn Candidate Removes Himself from Florida Gators Coaching Pool, Per Report

Jon Sumrall, a candidate in Auburn's head coaching search, was reported to have an interview scheduled with the Florida Gators.

Tulane Green Wave head coach Jon Sumrall is considered the top coaching candidate out of the Group of Six. | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Per a report by On3's Pete Nakos, Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall, a rumored candidate in the Auburn Tigers' head coaching search, has withdrawn his name from the Florida Gators football head coaching candidate pool.

This report comes after Somrall was scheduled to meet with Florida on Thursday about their head coaching vacancy. The meeting was first reported by On3’s Zach Abolverdi.

Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall is not interviewing with Florida on Thursday, sources tell @On3sports.

More: https://t.co/sN6bsK5h2A https://t.co/vF4Hoy5Zzc pic.twitter.com/HL2Xf6Hejs

— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos) November 19, 2025

With reports running rampant that current Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin is deciding between staying with the Rebels or moving to either Florida or LSU, Sumrall's reported decision to call off the meeting signals his possible desire to go elsewhere, and that a possible decision by Kiffin could come soon. 

Sumrall, currently Tulane's head coach and a popular coach in the Group of Six, is a name that has been circling Auburn's head coaching vacancy since Hugh Freeze's firing. The Green Wave are ranked 24th in the latest College Football Playoff Poll, which would make them the 12-seed should the CFP start today.

Sumrall previously spent two years as the head coach of the Troy Trojans, going 23-4 and winning two Sun Belt Conference titles. He also has previous experience coaching in the SEC, with one season at Ole Miss in 2018 as the linebackers coach and three seasons at Kentucky (2019-21) as the linebackers coach.

He was also the Wildcats' co-defensive coordinator in 2021.

Auburn's head coaching job is one that can come with many resources for whoever the Auburn athletic director, John Cohen, chooses to be the next head football coach. Cohen is looking for a head coach who has an “edge” and wants to win.

“All the characteristics, somebody with an edge,” Cohen stated when asked about what he is looking for in Auburn’s next head football coach earlier this month. “Somebody who’s highly competitive. In my career, I’ve found that one or two things have to happen. The head coach of almost any sport either has to have a tremendous edge to them, or they have to be surrounded by assistants who have an edge to them.

"There are many ways to define that, but you can call it blue collar, you can call it hard-nosed, you can call it aggressive. You can call it all those things, but usually, priority No. 1 is defining the part.”

Auburn’s head coaching vacancy still stands with two more guaranteed games remaining on the schedule. Cohen wants to have the next head coach announced no later than 24 hours after the Iron Bowl (Nov. 29), and Sumrall is a likely candidate whose name could be called.