Sumrall to Bring Multiple Tulane Coaches to Fill Staff

Florida Gators head coach Jon Sumrall is now one coach away from rounding out his coaching staff.

Florida Gators head coach Jon Sumrall is now one coach away from rounding out his coaching staff. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- With Tulane's season now over, Florida Gators head coach Jon Sumrall is set to bring multiple assistants with him to his new stop.

Sumrall on Sunday was reported to bring over offensive coordinator Joe Craddock as the quarterbacks coach, defensive coordinator Greg Gasparato as the inside linebackers coach, special teams coordinator Johnathan Galante in the same role, outside linebackers coach Bam Hardmon in the same role and offensive line coach Evan McKissack as the tight ends coach.

Sumrall will also bring Rusty Whitt from Tulane to be the strength and conditioning coordinator, according to the Orlando Sentinel's Edgar Thompson.

Craddock and Gasparato headline the hirings after being play-calling coordinators at Tulane and will no longer do so at Florida. Craddock, credited with the development of quarterbacks Darian Mensah in 2024 and Jake Retzlaff in 2025, will work under new offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner, who was brought in from Georgia Tech.

Gasparato will work under Brad White, Sumrall's first hiring and a veteran SEC defensive coordinator after a long stint at Kentucky. A longtime defensive assistant and defensive coordinator at Tulane the last two seasons, Gasparato previously worked with Sumrall at Troy and was a Broyles Award nominee in 2023.

He is one of two Broyles Award nominees now on staff, joining Galante, who was nominated this season.

Also of note, Hardmon is now the second former Gator expected to be on staff, joining offensive line coach Phil Trautwein. Hardmon played at Florida from 1999-2002, winning an SEC title in 2000. He recorded 168 tackles in 2002, the fourth-most in the nation that season and fourth-most in school history for a single season.

The latest hirings round out the bulk of Florida's staff, leaving just the running backs coach open. Sumrall has already announcing the hirings of offensive coordinator Faulkner, defensive coordinator White and defensive line coach Gerald Chatman, the only staff retention so far.

Florida is also expected to have wide receivers coach Marcus Davis, safeties coach Chris Collins and corners coach Brandon Harris on staff.

Meanwhile, Sumrall appears close to hiring a running backs coach. Florida was first linked to former Auburn offensive coordinator Derrick Nix, who ultimately decided to take the wide receivers coaching job at Alabama, and has reportedly interviewed former Texas running backs coach Chad Scott.

Florida Gators on SI is tracking all of Florida's staff changes under Sumrall here.