New Florida coach Jon Sumrall champions a playoff shift. He envisions a championship closer to New Year's, streamlining the season and enhancing player development.
New Florida head coach Jon Sumrall is preparing for spring football.
Sumrall hit the ground running with the Gators as soon as his run in the College Football Playoff ended with Tulane in December.
He's taking a playbook from former Florida head coach Urban Meyer by not allowing his players to wear workout gear with team logos until they earn the right.
During an appearance on Meyer's podcast "The Triple Option" last week, Sumrall advocated for a change in how college football games are scheduled.
While he wants the CFP to expand, the Gators head coach wants the championship to take place closer to New Year's Day.
“I love to get the calendar shifted back to where the national championship game was closer to January 1," Sumrall said. "I realized because of TV and the NFL games in December, we've moved some of this back. I love the expanded playoff.
"I'm great with it. Doesn't bother me at all that there's maybe more access.”
Sumrall noted the differences in how the CFP has changed things since Meyer coached at Florida and Ohio State. One or two losses could tank the season.
With more teams joining the CFP, it makes it harder for successful teams to navigate the transfer portal.
"Obviously we've gone to nine SEC games, which has made this league even more brutal, almost," Sumrall said. "And so not that it was easy before. And so I do think if we could start the season, maybe everybody Week 0--start the playoff a little earlier.
"Those sort of things, I think would be helpful to get the end of the championship season closer to January 1, maybe not January 1 exactly, but close."
Sumrall wants to keep the one transfer portal open for January. He thinks it allows head coaches to set the base of the roster for the next season.
Week 0 should become more active in future seasons.
Unlike with the current model of CFP games competing with the NFL, Week 0 does not have college programs playing at the same time NFL teams are playing their regular season.