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A 22-win, 23-loss record – as Billy Napier posted in four seasons with the Florida Gators — is, to at least an extent, an accumulation of major shortcomings caused by smaller missteps along the way.
Florida’s early season loss to USF last fall — the beginning of the end of Napier’s tenure — is a clear example.
In an 18-16 loss in front of a home crowd of nearly 90,000, the Gators delivered a comedy of errors. A botched snap on a punt, which led to a safety. Too many men on the field on defense gave USF a free shot at the end zone, which the Bulls turned into their only touchdown of the game. There was even a fourth-quarter penalty for spitting.
“They’re under my leadership,” Napier said after the game." It’s ultimately my responsibility.”
Now, its up to Jon Sumrall, who Florida hired from Tulane last November, to eradicate the errors. Before he picks a starting quarterback or calls a play under The Swamp’s spotlight, Sumrall must, as he has before at Troy and Tulane, course-correct more broadly.
As one of the featured coaches Wednesday at SEC media days, a swaggering Sumrall made no shortage of headlines.
He shared he grew up on the ideology that there are three leagues in football: the NFL’s AFC and NFC, and the SEC.
He declared Tampa to be “Gator Country,” which USF CEO of Athletics Rob Higgins replied to on X with a laugh.
When askedabout the oft-begrudged nine-game SEC schedule, he shared a different perspective.
“I’m not going to whine and complain about being an SEC head football coach,” he said.
So, what will he do?
“Every time you walk into a place that’s different, the most important thing you do as a new head coach is you listen to maybe what’s gone right and you listen to what’s gone wrong, and you try to identify where you have to recalibrate,” Sumrall said later in the day. “Try to get the right people in your building. Maybe (with) some people, it’s OK if they leave.”
“4-8 last year is not OK at the University of Florida,” he said. “We got to fix that.”
Sumrall preached about shaping a program where every member holds “an appreciation for the privileges that we’re afforded each and every day.”
“I want everybody in our building to be filled with urgency and excitement (and) passion about what they do,” he said.
A former University of Kentucky linebacker who carries himself with some of the energy to be expected from a former player, Sumrall said implementing the appropriate mindset is a priority.
“I think you have to have a great attitude in what you do,” he said. “I define attitude as demeanor, drive and desire. Demeanor is your body language. Your drive and desire is the mindset. You’ve never arrived, you can always get better.”
That, Sumrall said while downplaying that his past success as attributable to him as an individual, is what matters in the process he’s starting anew with Florida.
“When people want to bring up my track record as a head coach, I’m OK with people recognizing what we’ve done, but it’s had a little bit to do with me and a lot to do with so many other people,” he said. “This is a player-driven game. Nobody comes to our games to watch me coach.”
“I’m just trying to inject an attitude that we’re gonna attack every day with enthusiasm.”
The three players Sumrall brought with him to Tampa for this week’s preseason media event— running back Jadan Baugh, linebacker Myles Graham and wide receiver Vernell Brown III — said their new coach, who they all opted to stay and play for, is doing so.
“The fire has spread throughout the team,” Baugh said.
“We always had the pieces,” he said. “It was just more of the inside stuff with the team as to buying into the process, understanding the process a lot more just to keep going.”
Sumrall certainly has answers — and confidence — in the theoretical realm of media day, as well as proven case studies on his resume. But its been nearly two decades since a coach truly thrived at Florida. Four non-interim leaders have tried and failed.
“In the early 2000s, Florida was the program, the standard,” Brown said. “And we’re doing everything we can to get back to that.”
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