New Florida head coach Jon Sumrall demands immediate bowl eligibility, but looming quarterback questions and a mid-pack conference ranking suggest a grueling climb back to SEC relevance.
The Florida Gators plan to win quickly under new head coach Jon Sumrall.
Earlier this week, Sumrall told Action Sports Jax that making a bowl game was the minimum expectation for the Gators this season, and he would be upset if the team didn't play in a postseason game for 2026.
“I've got an expectation to win every game we play," Sumrall said. "That's my expectation. I'm not comfortable with anybody going, 'Hey, how many games are you comfortable winning this year?' If anybody tells me, 'Hey, bowl eligible,' I'm like, 'Yeah, we better be. Or I'll be on top of the stadium getting ready to do something stupid.'
"You have to have urgency every day. I think as soon as you put a ceiling or a cap on what you can do and start to think with limits in mind, you're automatically handicapping yourself. And so for me, man, our expectation is for our guys to expect to win every freaking time we take the field.”
Florida finished with a disappointing 4-8 record last season. The Gators’ schedule this year will be more daunting as the SEC changes to a nine-game conference schedule.
With questions on the offensive line and a quarterback battle in the spring that left plenty to be desired, there are valid questions about how Florida can hold up in a challenging SEC.
Paul Myerberg of USA Today gave the Gators a preseason SEC rank of No. 9. He thinks Florida will have to make use of its backfield to win games amid questions about quarterbacks Aaron Philo and Tramell Jones Jr.
"The Gators will have a very strong backfield led by returning starter Jadan Baugh, a potential preseason All-America pick," Myerberg wrote.
"New coach Jon Sumrall also brought in transfers Evan Pryor (Cincinnati) and London Montgomery (East Carolina) to bolster the group of ball carriers."
It's a more than fair ranking by Myerberg, who has Texas at No. 1 and Georgia at No. 2.
The Gators aren't close to being at the top of the SEC. Sumrall noted as much this spring, believing that he needed to recruit his way to the top.