The Florida Gators fanbase doesn't like the idea of hiring Jon Sumrall very much. After UF seemingly pulled ahead in the Sumrall sweepstakes following Lane Kiffin's eliminating them from consideration of his own future, Hail Florida Hail's Benjamin Henderson doesn't like a historical trend that works against the Tulane Green Wave head coach's potential success in Gainesville:
Coaches from the American Conference have never gone on to do great things at the Power 4 level.
"The other knock on Sumrall is that he would have to pull off something almost no other American Conference coach has," Henderson prefaced before saying, "Since the inception of the conference in 2013, there have been almost zero success stories of a conference title-winning coach moving up to the Power Four and having a successful run."
Maybe Auburn is better off promoting DJ Durkin than hiring Jon Sumrall
The Auburn Tigers were the presumed favorite for Sumrall until Friday. Now, many fans are getting upset at the thought of promoting DJ Durkin to head coach, even though his defense is the only reason AU isn't the laughingstock of the SEC.
Maybe it's better that the Tigers hire someone with Power 4 experience, even if it was a 10-15 record with the Maryland Terrapins. One of those 10 wins was a 51-41 upset of the Texas Longhorns in 2017, even if it was coming off the Charlie Strong era and was Tom Herman's debut in charge of a program in transition.
Durkin has earned the locker room's respect and may hold the key to several starters returning. If Hugh Freeze was the problem, then this team might be able to live up to its potential with new leadership. An overtime loss to the Vanderbilt Commodores in Durkin's coaching debut certainly lends credence to that. Tonight's Iron Bowl will have the final say, though.
Either way, perhaps the Auburn Family owes some open minds to Durkin, Derrick Nix, and the rest of the Freeze-less coaching staff if AD John Cohen chooses to retain them over hiring someone new to build his own staff.
Sometimes, the grass seems greener on the other side. In Sumrall's case, the grass has never been very green for an AAC/American coach in the Power 4 ranks.