The Florida Gators' football program has certainly seen better days.
The Florida Gators were once one of the top football programs in the country, but those days seem like eons ago.
Florida went just 4-8 last season and has posted four losing campaigns over the last five years, marking one of the worst stretches in school history.
So what exactly has happened in Gainesville?
Well, there have been a variety of reasons for the Gators' demise. Poor recruiting, subpar coaching, less than stellar transfer portal results, etc.
But the Elite College Football Instagram account has pointed to one central reason for Florida's collapse: the Marco Wilson shoe game.
Back in December 2020, Wilson threw an LSU player's shoe during the fourth quarter of a critical game, which resulted in an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and played a major role in the Gators' devastating a loss.
It was a defeat that may very well have been the final nail in the coffin for Florida's College Football Playoff hopes, and just over five years later, the program hasn't recovered.
Florida Gators coach Jon Sumrall. Credit: Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images.The Gators have gone just 29-36 since the incident and have not finished ranked in the AP top-25 poll since that 2020 campaign, when Florida came in at No. 13.
Obviously, Wilson's misstep is not the reason for the Gators' woes, but it did demonstrate the growing lack of discipline in the program, which has resulted in Florida being somewhat of an afterthought in the SEC.
Now, new head coach Jon Sumrall is hoping to turn things around in the Swamp. He has already gotten off to a great start, putting together a terrific transfer portal haul and also keeping numerous key players from bolting the Gators.
Not only that, but Sumrall is already showing signs of changing the culture in Gainesville, which has certainly been a major problem the last several years.
Sumrall has four years of previous head-coaching experience, splitting his time between Troy and Tulane. He went 43-12 throughout that span, most recently leading Tulane to an 11-3 record and a CFP appearance this past season.
The 43-year-old accepted the job at Florida back in late November, and the general consensus is that Sumrall is the right man to lead the squad.
We'll see if things begin to change for the Gators in 2026.
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