Sumrall Ready to 'Cut it Loose' in First Appearance in the Swamp as Gators' HC

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- When Jon Sumrall runs out of the tunnel on Saturday ahead of his first game as the Florida Gators' head football coach, it will not be his first time.

Sumrall reminded a reporter as much on his first day on the job last December when asked about playing in the Swamp in 2009 as a linebacker at Kentucky.

"'09 I played in The Swamp? I was at the University of San Diego," Sumrall said. "We didn't play here in '09. I played here twice in college. I coached here a couple times, but '09 I was at the University of San Diego."

When the reporter replied that maybe he was wrong, Gator nation got its first taste of Sumrall's "tell it like it is" personality.

"You're wrong. There's no maybe," he replied with a laugh. "You can drop the maybe, Cuz."

Nine months later, Sumrall is now set to lead Florida out of the tunnel to coach his first game with the Gators. He's not shying away from his excitment for the opportunity. It doesn't come with nerves, however.

"I'll just be excited. I don't get nervous. If I see a rattlesnake, I might get nervous," he detailed on Monday. "But I don't get nervous. I'm fired up to let our guys go cut it loose and play. And I think so, I still get amped. But I'm not like biting my fingernails or anything."

Florida Gators head coach Jon Sumrall smiles during his introductory press conference. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Aside from last April's spring game, it will mark his first time since 2020 that he appears on the sidelines inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. As an assistant coach at Kentucky, he watched as Florida downed the Wildcats, 34-10, in 2020. Before that, he watched from the sidelines in 2006 as a graduate assistant when the Gators took home a 26-7 win on its way to a national title.

Before that, he played in the Swamp twice as a middle linebacker for Kentucky: a 41-34 win for Florida in 2002 and a 20-3 win by the Gators in 2004. Those experiences, despite all of them ending with Sumrall on the losing end, have fed into his excitement as he approaches his first game with the Gators.

"I think back to when I was on the opposite sideline a couple times here as a player and as a coach, and how unique and special I've always felt like the Swamp is," he said during Wednesday's SEC Teleconference. "And the fanbase here is so electric and charged up that I'll be very similarly wired. That gameday opportunity here is unlike many out there."

The lead-up to his first game with the Gators has also caused some deeper reflection. Sumrall has not shied away from humorous jabs at himself about being an average SEC linebacker and the "leading tripper" for the Wildcats before his career ended due to a back injury. He also has not shied away from how meaningful every opportunity has been since his playing career ended.

And, it started at Kentucky when then-head coach Rich Brooks gave him an opportunity as a graduate assistant in 2005, shortly after he learned the severity of his injury. He spoke to Brooks last week about his first game as Florida's head coach.

"Every time we talk, I kid around with him: in 2004, he almost got fired because he was starting guys like me," Sumrall said on Monday. "But I called him just to tell him thank you. I said, 'Coach, it's crazy to think that 22 years ago, I was playing in the stadium as a below-average linebacker in this league. And now I'm getting to coach as a head coach in this stadium, in this venue, at this program.' I just wanted him to know, 'Without you, I wouldn't be here.'"

He is not kidding, either.

Jon Sumrall played at Kentucky before coaching for the Wildcats in various capacities. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Without Brooks, Sumrall's playing career likely does not turn into him being the team's leading tackler in 2004. From there, he likely does not become a GA for two seasons, which then led him to assistant and coordinator stops at San Diego (2007-11), Tulane (2012-14), Troy (2015-17), Ole Miss (2018) and then back to Kentucky (2019-21).

Those stops led him back to head-coaching gigs with the Trojans (2022-23) and the Green Wave (2024-25), which, after a chaotic coaching cycle, led him to Florida.

Now with the Gators, Sumrall has a big long-term task ahead of him. Florida has not been a consistent title contender since Urban Meyer's tenure from 2005-10. The Gators have not won 10 games in a season since or a major bowl game since 2019, an SEC title since 2008 or a national title since 2008. Florida has been through four head coaches since Meyer's departure, none of whom survived past their fourth season.

Sumrall plans to be the guy who can end those woes. His first offseason has been focused on four key core values: attitude, toughness, discipline and love. While the emotions of coaching his first game with the Gators will exist, his main focus will be on the players with those four values at the front of his mind.

Sumrall explained on Monday that Sunday through Friday are "coaches' days," but Saturday is for the players.

"Yeah, I'll get critiqued when things don't go well, I'm fine there, and get credit when they go good, whatever.  But Saturday, the game day, at that point, you've coached them. They don't rise to the occasion, I think they fall to the level of their training," he said. "Well, I want them to be so trained that Saturday night, they can go cut loose and play the game the right way."

Part of that is not letting emotions get out of hand. Taking over a team with four losing seasons in five years and fresh off a 4-8 season, Florida's returning players are starving to be the team that finally turns the program around. While Sumrall has those long-term goals in mind, he said his main focus is going 1-0 this week with FAU coming to Gainesville.

To do that, emotions cannot be at the forefront.

"At the end of the day too, it's really about focusing on us doing our job to the best of our ability and playing really good football," he said. "And so, you have to make sure that while you're emotionally charged up and you're hyped, that you don't forget that the main things that go on within the game aren't in the stands; it's in between the white lines, and how do we help put our guys in situations to be successful."

Nonetheless, Sumrall is Sumrall, and the energy will be there. So will a sold-out crowd of over 88,000 fans, marking the program's 19th consecutive sellout. Still, even if it was a crowd of 88, Sumrall will be ready for his first appearance on the home sidelines after four on the away side.

"I will be excited. I'm excited every time we play. I don't care if playing in the parking lot, I'm excited," he said. "I don't care who the opponent is, I'm excited. It's an opportunity... You work so dagnum hard, I'll be really excited about the opportunity to watch our team go play and all the work that's been put in. Go cut it loose."

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