New Florida head coach Jon Sumrall is laying the foundation for his program in 2026. Miami head coach Mario Crtistobal took a shot at Sumrall.
Florida head coach Jon Sumrall is laying the foundation for his new program this offseason.
The former head coach at Tulane is taking a page from Urban Meyer's playbook, not letting his players wear Gators logos until they earn the privilege.
Sumrall's goal is to make Florida a competitor for the College Football Playoff, something rival Miami did last season. Miami made it to the CFP national championship before losing to Indiana in January.
During an interview with JD PicKell of On3, Cristobal took a shot at Sumrall and other head coaches in the Sunshine State, saying those coaches didn't have true ties to their schools.
“Unless I’m crazy, I think I’m the only head coach in Florida, in terms of the programs, who actually played at the school he coaches at,” Cristobal said, via On3. “So at Miami, it’s very different. It’s a whole different level of meaning.
"It’s a whole different level of purpose and intent. Live and die a Hurricane, man. That means I’ll do anything and everything possible to make sure our players and our program continues to have those success on and off the field.”
Sumrall is a native of Texarkana, Texas, and played college football as a linebacker for Kentucky. This is the first season Sumrall has been on staff with the Gators in any capacity.
Cristobal's goal is always to beat Florida and Florida State in recruiting, but he claims the Hurricanes don't negatively recruit, something that's hard to believe based on the fact that he just took a shot at rival programs.
“In recruiting, that’s you always want to win your state, Cristobal said. “We provide very tangible proof of the direction of our program, or what we’re doing.
“We don’t get negative recruiting, but people always negatively recruit us. And that’s fine, no one should ever take that personally."
Cristobal and Miami got the better of Florida in 2025. The Hurricanes defeated the Gators 26-7 in Sept.
Sumrall has some work to catch up with Cristobal and Miami. One thing the new leader was able to do was to retain most of his roster in the offseason.