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ESPN insider pegs Jon Sumrall for SEC in 2026, fades Kentucky

IMG_0985by: Griffin McVeigh09/10/25griffin_mcveigh
Jon-Sumrall-calls-out-Northwestern-after-preventing-Tulane-from-honoring-memory-of-Hurricane-Katrina
© Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Only two weeks into the 2025 season, the coaching carousel is a topic of discussion. Plenty of coaches entered the season on the hot seat and potential replacements are being mapped out. Someone primed to make a jump to the power conferences, specifically the SEC, is Jon Sumrall.

Kentucky has long been the school linked with Sumrall. He played for the Wildcats and if Mark Stoops were to be fired, Sumrall would be a popular name brought up for the job. However, while ESPN does believe Sumrall gets an SEC vacancy, they are fading the chances of it being Kentucky.

“Tulane’s Jon Sumrall is still the top candidate from a non-Power 4 school,” ESPN said. “I’d be a bit surprised if he’s not leading an SEC program in 2026 or shortly after. Sumrall is an Alabama native who played linebacker at Kentucky, and coached both at his alma mater and at Ole Miss in 2018. He will be the top name mentioned whenever the Mark Stoops era ends at Kentucky, but his return is far from a guarantee. Sumrall could look to other SEC jobs where making the CFP seems a bit more realistic.”

Sumrall spent three seasons at Kentucky under Stoops. Initially the inside linebacker coach, he earned a promotion to co-defensive coordinator in 2021. One year later, the Troy job opened, and Sumrall jumped on the opportunity.

Two seasons later, Sumrall is in New Orleans with Tulane. Results have been quite impressive thus far, finishing 2024 with a 9-3 regular season record. A loss in the AAC Championship Game and Gasparilla Bowl to Florida added a couple of extra tallies in the loss column. Thus far in 2025, the Green Wave are 2-0 ahead of a massive showdown against Duke.

With all the success comes big-time interest from other schools. Just this past offseason, multiple programs attempted to hire Sumrall. On3’s Pete Nakos reported over the summer on the reasoning behind Sumrall’s decision to remain at Tulane for another season.

The noise might be too much to overcome heading into 2026. If an SEC job is available to Sumrall, ESPN believes he would jump at the chance. Big Blue Nation in Lexington might be hoping its a scenario where he returns home to coach the alma mater. However, ESPN says there is no guarantee of him replacing Stoops one day. One for everybody in the SEC with a coach on the hot seat to monitor.