The Florida Gators were burned badly by Billy Napier's big spending and minuscule results during his two and a half seasons in Gainesville. Like a scorned lover, UF is afraid of that happening again. But they aren't writing it off for the right person.
According to Saturday Down South's Connor O'Gara, Lane Kiffin could be the right person for Florida. Tulane Green Wave football coach Jon Sumrall isn't considered to be in that same realm, however.
"Alignment can look different for a Year 1 coach than a Year 3 coach on the hot seat. Napier’s shortcomings at Florida weren’t from a lack of support. If anything, the unprecedented amount of support he received with a ballooned staff made his lack of on-field results more alarming. If there’s a sense from Florida that the wasted funds of the Napier era will limit Sumrall’s potential budget, that has to be considered. For what it’s worth, there aren’t any indications that’ll be the case from a Florida administration that believed in 2024 that it had the resources to poach Kiffin from Ole Miss," O'Gara wrote.
"If Kiffin has a different sort of alignment at Florida than Sumrall, that matters. All of this is relevant context."
Jon Sumrall has more logical ties to LSU and Auburn than Florida
Sumrall may be better off staying closer to home than heading down to Florida.
The Auburn Tigers make sense given his experience winning the Sun Belt back-to-back in 2022 and 2023. The LSU Tigers make sense since he's already laying down roots in the state of Louisiana in two years at Tulane.
Of course, the Kentucky Wildcats would immediately become the frontrunners for the UK alum by firing Mark Stoops. A 10-3 win over Auburn might've saved Stoops' job, though, and if any team in the SEC would keep their head coach just to save money for their basketball team, it's Kentucky.
As things stand, though, LSU and Auburn should be considered the strongest contenders for Sumrall.