Why Scott Stricklin is 'Optimistic' in Gators HC Jon Sumrall

GAINESVILLE, Fla.—Scott Stricklin has a notebook, and in it is a section dating back to 2022 with notes from an interview with a coaching candidate.

In that interview, the candidate laid out a clear plan for what he wanted the Florida Gators to be.

“We want talented guys who have great attitude, great work ethic, and want to be Gators. We're going to pound the rim, shoot 3s. We're going to play fast, we're going to get internationals and mix them in with some domestic kids,” the candidate said.

That candidate was Todd Golden.

Since that interview, Golden has led Florida's men's basketball program to its first national championship in nearly 20 years, an SEC regular-season and tournament title and has turned the Gators into a consistent title contender.

All from promises kept in that interview with Stricklin. Florida’s basketball program under Golden is known for its grittiness, physical toughness down low, unselfish play and strong culture on and off the court despite it being an even mix of international recruits and domestic prospects.

“It's amazing how similar it is,” Stricklin said.

Nearly four years after hiring Golden, Stricklin met with another coaching candidate. During that interview, the candidate laid out a similar plan for toughness on the field, a strong culture in the program, player retention and intentional portal recruiting and a plan for winning immediately, which drew comparisons to Golden in Stricklin’s mind.

That candidate was new head football coach Jon Sumrall.

While Sumrall, just six months into his tenure, is far from reaching where Golden has the men’s basketball program, Stricklin is already seeing promises kept, a trait that seemingly was lost under the previous football leadership and a trait that garnered comparisons to when Golden became the head men’s basketball coach.

In his meetings with Stricklin, Sumrall laid out a plan for his vision of the Florida football program, which included going after Georgia Tech’s Buster Faulkner and Kentucky’s Brad White as his coordinators and a list of candidates for other assistant roles.

Stricklin said Sumrall successfully hired around 70 percent of his top candidates, including Faulkner and White.

"Probably as good of a staff as we've had since I've been here," Stricklin said. "From a football standpoint, that's critically important."

Then there was retaining Florida’s top players, a goal Sumrall made clear in his introductory press conference. Much like his hiring of assistants, he was largely successful. Florida notably retained what many believe to be its five core players in receivers Dallas Wilson and Vernell Brown III, linebacker Myles Graham, edge rusher Jayden Woods and running back Jadan Baugh.

“He's done what he said he would do,” Stricklin said. “That sounds obvious, but that doesn't happen with every coach. A lot of coaches will tell you something in the interview process, and they show up, and it starts changing.”

Florida head coach Jon Sumrall's energy has stood out during the early portion of his tenure. | Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Then there’s Sumrall’s unabashed personality. Throughout the early portion of his time in Gainesville, Sumrall made it clear that he is not changing for anyone. He will keep it blunt. He will target failure and shortcomings, but he will also praise and chase success with total confidence. That was shown quickly during his introductory press conference when he said he was "a winner" and that Florida is "going to win."

Stricklin called it a "can-do-it confidence that rubs off on people."

Sound familiar?

Golden, known for his fiery personality on the sideline, blunt humor in press conferences and intensity in targeting shortcomings and chasing success, said that Sumrall is “the type of guy that that we need” because of that energy.

“I see a lot of similarities into his mentality when he got the opportunity as mine,” Golden told Florida Gators on SI last season. “He was much more accomplished than I was when I got this opportunity. But I think he will take advantage of it in a similar way.”

Sumrall has a long way to go to touch what Golden has accomplished with the basketball program. He takes over a football program with four losing seasons in five years while having to overhaul the strength and conditioning program, revamp the offense and build sustainable depth all throughout the roster.

More importantly, he’s tasked with rebuilding the program into a consistent contender, while working to win over a fanbase that he admits has the right to be impatient. His predecessor, Billy Napier, went as far as to say in his introductory press conference that there will be people angry with him for how long his process to build a program would take. At the same time, Stricklin admitted that Dan Mullen's success, although immediate, never felt sustainable.

"Patience is a variable term," Stricklin said. "It's not unending."

It remains to be seen when or even if that will happen. But those kept promises give hope for what’s to come, and that Sumrall can be the one to win immediately and sustain it in the long term.

“We haven't played a down yet. We're not celebrating anything just yet,” Stricklin said, “but we're optimistic.”

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