The new Florida Gators head football coach is calling back to a move used by a former Gators coach as he sets the standard.
When a college football program hires a new head coach, they’re expected to set the tone and standard for a winning culture. In most cases, it takes some work to get back there when taking over for a fired predecessor. That is what new Florida Gators head coach Jon Sumrall is setting out to do in his first offseason with the program. One of his first moves is a callback to a strategy used by the last coach to compete for a national title in Gainesville, though he apparently did not know he was emulating him.
Sumrall gave his players athletic gear for offseason workouts, and the Gators logo was not on any of it – just as Hall of Fame Urban Meyer implemented in 2005. The players will have to earn the logo. Now, he’s not sure how or when they can earn them just yet, but it’s clear that he’s looking to do an overhaul of leadership. The former Tulane Green Wave coach stresses the notion of player-led teams, and that looks to be the intended goal of this move to see how players respond and look for those yet-to-be defined opportunities to don the Florida logo.
Here is the full story from Gators Roundtable writer Jordan Sigler on the move by Sumrall that calls back to the title-winning Meyer.
Sumrall took over the Gators after leading the Green Wave to an 11-3 season, their second American conference title, and their first-ever College Football Playoff appearance. He will now look to turn Florida into contenders after a 4-8 season that saw former coach Billy Napier get fired.