No, Florida's Athletic Leadership is Not Reeling in Jon Sumrall's Personality, Says Gators Coach

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Nothing like a pair of losses to bring social media conspiracy theories to the forefront. Florida Gators first-year head coach Jon Sumrall is learning that quickly.

After back-to-back blowout losses, the Gators have quickly gone from 4-0 and ranked inside the top 10 to 4-2 and unranked. Sumrall, known for his fiery energy, loud personality and zero hesitation with cussing in press conferences, quickly found himself the subject of a social media conspiracy over the weekend that Florida's athletic leadership had decided to rein him.

Sumrall says that could not be more incorrect.

"Are you sh*tting me?" Sumrall asked a reporter on Monday who asked if he was being reined in by Florida's leadership. "... Look. I took this job because when I took the job, the administration, I felt really strongly wanted me to be me. Whether that be Duke [Werner] or Scott Stricklin; Stuart Bell wasn't here yet, but he's been around me enough. I think he's pretty comfortable with how direct and how vulgar I can be, maybe. Good luck reigning me in."

Much of the theory came from Sumrall's sideline and press conference demeanor after the losses to Missouri and South Carolina, both of which saw the Gators struggle on both sides of the ball on the way to losses of 28 points and 19 points. Usually the loud and in-your-face coach, Sumrall has been more laid-back.

He says there is a reasonable explanation for that.

"When things are going good for our guys, I'm probably more of a maniac on everybody. When things aren't going good, I have to figure out how to calm down because we are still young, maybe at times immature, emotional bunch," he said. "... When the fans were booing, the worst thing I can go do is 'MF' our guys. Our guys at that point need me to go, 'Hey, boys, it's alright. They may be booing you, but I believe in you. Let's go.'"

Jon Sumrall is 4-2 halfway through his first season with the Gators. | Kyle Lander / Florida Gators on SI

Nonetheless, outside noise on Florida's football program has completely flipped over the last two weeks. Seen as a strong playoff contender with one of the nation's top offenses after a 52-28 win over Ole Miss, the Gators now find themselves in danger of a four-game losing streak with No. 7 Texas and No. 1 Georgia up next. After that, rising programs in Oklahoma and No. 15 Kentucky are next.

It is also not just the fact that Florida has lost two games. It is also how they lost. The defense has been non-existent, while the offense has not been a serious threat either in the run-game with star back Jadan Baugh or in the vertical passing game. Fan tensions also boiled over on Saturday, with boos ringing out inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium as a 17-10 deficit near the end of the second quarter turned into a 38-19 loss.

Sumrall also made sure to address the booing, a necessary thing after a debacle at Texas A&M in which Aggies head coach Mike Elko called a famous message board site a "cesspool."

"I love that our fans care enough to boo. Good," he said. "I'd rather the stands be full and them be passionate and pissed off if something's not going good. I don't want to applaud when we're not playing well. We do need their support. We need them to be behind the guys."

All of that has gone into his more mellow demeaner. Sumrall further explained on Monday that the Gators are "trying to find ourselves from a confidence standpoint." At halftime on Saturday, Sumrall said the room looked like "somebody's dog died" despite it only being a seven-point deficit with the Gators set to get the ball in the second half.

When Florida wins, Sumrall's job is to play humbler as he looks to keep the team level-headed and focused on improvement. When the Gators lose, it is his job to be the reaffirmer and keep the team's confidence level up so they can quickly move on from the loss.

"I've said this openly and publicly: when things are going good and everybody's patting them on the back, I'm probably an a**hole in our building to everybody," he said. "The people in our building are probably like, 'We just won. Why are you pissed?' Because I'm trying to make sure everybody's head still fits to the door. And then when things aren't going good - we have had two weeks where the outcome's not been favorable - I'm probably a little bit more calm, direct, reaffirming.

"It's my time to try to figure out how to help the team rebuild their confidence right now because they are a little bit shaken."

So, no, Florida's athletic leadership is not trying to reel in Sumrall's personality. And if they tried to, good luck.

"If anybody wants me to act differently, I wouldn't have come here," he said. "So good luck trying to reel me in, or tell me how to do it or whatever. My wife's tried, hasn't worked for her. I'm not very good at being reeled in."

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