Jon Sumrall makes promise to Florida fans: 'Winners win, I'm a winner, we're going to win'

Jon Sumrall is well aware of what is expected of him at Florida. He was introduced Monday as the 31st coach in history of Gators football, taking over after a rough past few seasons under Billy Napier.

It’s a program that has three national championships and eight SEC titles to its name, though has gone the past 17 years without either. Sumrall’s goal includes not only restoring Florida into a winning team, but also bringing back a trophy to Gainesville. He spoke with confidence on why he believes he is the right man to do so.

“The standard here is championships,” Sumrall said in his opening statement Monday. “That’s why I came. I’m built for this job. I was made for this job. Winner’s win, I’m a winner, we’re gonna win.”

Sumrall has proven an ability to win at his previous stops at a pair of Group of 5 programs. After going 23-4 in two seasons at Troy, he took over the job at Tulane in 2024.

In two years with the Green Wave, Jon Sumrall has maintained their status as one of the top Group of 5 schools in the country. Tulane currently ranks No. 21 in the College Football Playoff rankings and would have a chance to make the 12-team field if it wins the AAC Championship against North Texas.

As he takes the step up to not only the Power 4, but also the SEC level, Sumrall knows there will be different challenges. But he plans to treat his stop at Gainesville like a fresh start, and will tailor his philsophy to what he believes will work best with what he has.

“I think every place is different,” Sumrall said. “Troy was different than Tulane as a school, what type of student athlete I could attract, who could get in school. Tulane’s a really high academic institution like we have here. So both places were very different and, year-to-year your roster is so different in college football. The trick as a head coach is trying to figure out, how do we formulate each team’s opportunity to have success. No two teams are alike.

“In our league the last two years at Tulane, you’d be played Army one week and Navy the next. Those are option or Wing T teams. Then the next week you might play North Texas, which we’re getting ready to play, or we played South Florida last year. They’re just looking to go fast and don’t always know what the play could look like, but they’re gonna go fast. So the types of teams you see are different. I think you always have to identify: what is your team best at? There’s a formula for every team to give themselves the best chance to win games. I don’t care what level you’re at.”