With the way Greg McElroy described Florida Gators head coach Jon Sumrall, it's hard not to imagine how good a culture fit he would've been had he not turned down the Auburn Tigers head coaching job this offseason.
McElroy believes Florida can be a sleeper during the 2026 College Football season because of Sumrall's culture-shifting abilities. Specifically, McElroy loves how Sumrall's teams run the ball and tackle, two aspects of the game the overwhelming majority of AU's pros who went on to the NFL built their legacy on.
"Florida's a sleeper because no one's really talking about them as kind of a quick-rise team, but the ingredients for an immediate jump are there. Jon Sumrall brings a reputation for structure and toughness and the 'we know who we're going to be' type of team," McElroy said on the Always College Football podcast.
"Sumrall's teams typically do a great job of running and a great job of tackling. They don't live on a lot of gimmicks, but if Florida can become a super disciplined team, which has not been the case the last couple years, with a very functional quarterback and more consistent line play, they can flip from being really up and down to very dangerous."
As good of a fit Jon Sumrall would've been, Alex Golesh makes more sense for Auburn
Only time will prove the statement correct, but right now, it feels like the Gators and Tigers both won this past offseason's hiring cycle.
Sumrall looks like what Florida has desperately needed, someone who's intense but backs it up with results, while Alex Golesh is a great offensive mind who will bring immediately explosive upperclassmen talents from the USF Bulls, and fits Auburn better because DJ Durkin was clearly going to be retained. No need to double up on defensive minds with Sumrall and Durkin. UF is paying big money for defensive coordinator Brad White, but it's still a million less than Durkin. That million-dollar difference is made up between Sumrall and Golesh's salaries.
The Tigers got a better fit in the grand scheme of Durkin being retained, and the Gators got the aggressive culture-shifter needed to restore order in Gainesville as soon as possible.
Maybe everybody will be happy. Maybe we'll revisit this and someone will have proven to be a far better hire.