Wednesday saw the SEC head coaches in attendance at the Tampa Marriott Water Street and neighboring JW Marriott looser than the previous days. Florida Gators head coach Jon Sumrall was certainly feeling comfortable when he told a reporter that he'd have kicked him out of a team meeting for his phone ringing.
Sumrall wasn't all jokes and laughs, though. The first-year Gators headman was very somber while discussing his counterpart in the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, Florida's greatest blood feud in the conference.
Meanwhile, Ole Miss Rebels head coach Pete Golding had the quote of the entire week so far about how he was able to keep certain players, like quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy, out of the portal this past offseason.
Here were the highlights from the 2026 SEC Football Media Days yesterday:
Jon Sumrall admits Florida is not at Georgia's level
It's been six years since the Georgia Bulldogs have taken a loss to the Gators. UGA head coach Kirby Smart has been able to dominate his rival, having not lost to the Auburn Tigers since 2017 either. Sumrall recognized that UF has a long way to go to be an equal counterpart in the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.
“We've got a lot of work to do to get where we need to be in that rivalry game," Sumrall told Blaine Crain of Crain & Company.
Sumrall had jokes, toward Lane Kiffin (more on him later) and toward the reporter. It's a serious matter to be able to defeat the Dawgs in Gainesville. Luckily for Sumrall, he'll have a play-caller in Buster Faulkner who nearly knocked off UGA with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in three straight Clean Old Fashioned Hate games. Whether or not Sumrall could bring the talent together right away is the major question this fall in the "Swamp."
If he can successfully answer it, Sumrall will have achieved something Billy Napier never so much as sniffed during his time with the Gators.
Pete Golding used Lane Kiffin to keep Ole Miss players from the portal
As Golding revealed, the hate Kiffin received online was his key to keeping Ole Miss's best players from entering the portal. Golding sold players on not being seen in a similar light to Kiffin, who famously left for the LSU Tigers and ditched the Rebels right before the CFP.
"I said Google Lane Kiffin. The dude that they would have built a statue of here three days ago. Google his name right now. They wouldn’t piss on him if he’s on fire. And so they’re gonna do the same thing to y’all two if you do that," Golding said.
Talk about negative recruiting. Golding hit his players with some slick reverse psychology, and at least his top two offensive weapons from a season ago folded. As you can see, the Ole Miss-LSU rivalry is in full swing.
Perhaps Kiffin will have a retort today when the most anticipated media day finishes off the week.
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