College Football HQ

Steve Spurrier sends clear message to new Florida head coach

Rowan Fisher Shotton|
Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida Gators former head coach Urban Meyer and Florida Gators former head coach Steve Spurrier talk before the press conference at the Heavener Football Training Center at the University of Florida.
Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida Gators former head coach Urban Meyer and Florida Gators former head coach Steve Spurrier talk before the press conference at the Heavener Football Training Center at the University of Florida. | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

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Florida Gators

Florida announced on Sunday that Jon Sumrall will be the program’s 31st head football coach, a hire aimed squarely at restoring a winning culture after Billy Napier’s dismissal in October.

Sumrall arrives with a short but fast-moving resume that includes conference titles at Troy and back-to-back championship-game appearances at Tulane.

At the introductory podium on Monday, Sumrall stressed staff construction and offensive firepower as immediate priorities.

The hire received visible endorsement from Gators legends, including Steve Spurrier, who joined other former coaches in backing the hire and was captured on social video shouting, “Just win a whole bunch.”

Spurrier’s public blessing matters as he’s Florida’s most iconic coach (Heisman winner in 1966, national champion in 1996) and a living representative of the program’s greatest era.

Across 26 years of college coaching, he compiled a 228-89-2 record, including a 122-27-1 record (.817) with the Gators.

Sumrall led Troy to consecutive Sun Belt championships (2022-23) and followed by taking Tulane to the American Athletic Conference title game.

Across his first four head-coaching seasons, he’s been to the league championship in each year and compiled an overall record of 42-11.

That consistent run of results is central to the athletic department’s decision.

UF head football coach Jon Sumrall.
New UF head football coach Jon Sumrall speaks during a press conference at the James W. “Bill” Heavener Football Training Center in Gainesville, Florida. | Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Florida’s vacancy was created when Billy Napier was fired on October 19 after a 22-23 tenure that failed to meet expectations in the SEC.

The Gators finished the 2025 season under interim coach Billy Gonzales, and the program’s leadership moved quickly through a national search that ultimately landed Sumrall.

Sumrall will finish the postseason with Tulane, the Green Wave were 10–2 and set for the AAC title game, before relocating to Gainesville and beginning the formal rebuild.

While Sumrall arrives with a formula for quick results, the question now is whether that formula holds up in the SEC, where the margin for error is thin, and expectations are at a national title level. 

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Rowan Fisher
ROWAN FISHER SHOTTON

Rowan Fisher-Shotton is a versatile journalist known for sharp analysis, player-driven storytelling, and quick-turn coverage across CFB, CBB, the NBA, WNBA, and NFL. A Wilfrid Laurier alum and lifelong athlete, he’s written for FanSided, Pro Football Network, Athlon Sports, and Newsweek, tackling every beat with both a reporter’s edge and a player’s eye.

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