Jon Sumrall explains why it was important for him to finish season at Tulane before starting at Florida

After this season, Jon Sumrall is headed to be the next head coach at Florida. This year isn’t done yet, though, as he intends to finish what he started at Tulane.

Appearing on ‘SportsCenter’ on Tuesday, Sumrall was asked about the dynamic of closing this season with the Green Wave before taking over the Gators. That begins with what’s been busy few days with Tulane winning on Saturday, Sumrall getting the job at Florida on Sunday, his introductory press conference with the Gators in Gainesville on Monday, and now back to practice today with the Green Wave in New Orleans.

“It’s been a whirlwind, man. You hit the nail on the head. Doing two jobs at one time? Not a lot of sleep. A lot of working the phones. A lot of watching film,” said Sumrall. “Excited to be back at Tulane, though. We had practice this morning, and getting ready to coach our guys for a conference championship game.”

That said, this is what Sumrall wanted. Tulane (10-2), for the second straight year in the only two seasons of his tenure there, is in the American Championship on Friday night, with the Green Wave hosting and playing it against North Texas at Yulman Stadium. And, if they win, all likelihood is that they’ll be the representative from the Group of Five to be in the College Football Playoff. That being the case, Sumrall said it was very important for him to finish it out with this team, who has a chance to have the best season in school history, and he’s very grateful for everyone involved in this process for allowing him to do so.

“As the Florida opportunity became more of a reality for me, I voiced to them how important it was for me to finish this job the right way. You know, how you enter a place matters, but how you leave a place maybe matters just as much, if not more. And Tulane has given me a tremendous opportunity to be the head football coach here, and it’s been very special for me and my family, and I wanted to coach this out. I wanted to be a part of this conference championship game this week, and hopefully something after that if we can handle our business,” said Sumrall. “Florida was great about understanding that. Very, very grateful for Tulane understanding that. And our players have been awesome through this whole process, man. We’ve got a great group of guys on this team, and, man, they’re so fun to be around every day. And, this is a player-driven program, so our guys have been great every step of the way.”

He was sure to clarify that point too. It may have an effect on the first month or so of his tenure in The Swamp, but Sumrall intends to coach at Tulane not just through the American Championship but throughout the potential appearance for the Green Wave in the College Football Playoff.

“If we’re playing a championship opportunity, I’m coaching this team. So, conference championship? I’m coaching. We win this week? I’m coaching,” Sumrall stated. “I’m going to clear that up. I’m not looking ahead, but that’s the plan. We’ve talked about that as the plan. That’s what we’re going to do.”

There’s a lot on the to-do list right now for Sumrall, as he finishes his last season at Tulane while beginning to make preparations for his first one at Florida. However, he wouldn’t have it any other way in order to best handle the end of his time in NOLA.