Jon Sumrall on building staff at Florida: 'I don't hire friends'

On Monday, Florida held an introductory press conference for new head football coach Jon Sumrall. When Sumrall was asked about his staff selection process, he didn’t mince words.

“I don’t hire my friends. Honestly, when I took my first head coaching job, I lost some friends maybe, or at least for a little while,” Sumrall said. “They were like, ‘I thought we were buddies.’ I’m like, ‘We are. That doesn’t mean you’re the right fit here.’

“… I don’t hire a staff off of who are my buddies. I hire a staff based upon what is the absolute best group of people we can put together to serve and develop our players and win championships at that place. Every place is different. When I walk into a new place, the first thing I do is I assess what’s there.

“There will be some folks that stay. Then I may bring a few that have been around me. And, there’s gonna be some people that haven’t been here and haven’t been with me that need to be added to help us get the best group of people together to win championships and serve our players.”

Sumrall has been Tulane’s head coach since 2024. Prior to his time leading the Green Wave, he was the head coach at Troy for the 2022-23 seasons.

In his two seasons at Tulane, he’s amassed a 19-7 overall record and 14-2 mark in conference play. Sumrall plans on finishing the season with Tulane despite accepting the job offer from Florida.

The Green Waves are currently ranked No. 24 in the country and have a chance to be the Group-of-Five team in the College Football Playoff. On Friday, Tulane will square off against North Texas in the American Athletic Championship.

Tulane pulled off multiple impressive victories this season, including wins over Duke and Memphis. A coach doesn’t achieve that level of success by simply hiring his friends. Jon Sumrall isn’t willing to jeopardize his future at Florida out of fear of hurting his friends’ feelings.

“I want to be in Florida for a real long time. I didn’t say that. I’d like to like coach here forever,” Sumrall said. “I took this job because, man, this is the job I want to be at for a long time.”

Sumrall is replacing head coach Billy Napier, who spent three seasons at the helm of Florida. He’ll look to return the Gators to their previous heights with the best staff he can assemble.