Florida's Jon Sumrall explains why it's 'easier' to coach in NIL era

In the era of player movement, coaches have discussed different approaches to working with players. For example, Georgia coach Kirby Smart has said he isn’t changing his focus on development even as athletes earn NIL dollars and weigh transfer portal decisions.

As he takes over at Florida, Jon Sumrall is following that model. In fact, he thinks coaching in the current landscape might be even easier.

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Sumrall made it clear he didn’t change his attitude about challenging players during his time at Troy and Tulane because he treats them like professionals. That’s why he doesn’t want to hear anyone talk about things being too challenging. Since they’re earning NIL dollars, he wants to reflect that within the program.

“I actually think it’s easier,” Sumrall said on SiriusXM College Sports Radio. “Because if a guy wants to act some sort of way about having to do something tough, I’m like, ‘Dude, you make money. Shut up, bro. You’re getting paid, dawg. Put the work in.’

“I think some coaches, with this new world we’re living in of transfer portal, NIL, have gotten softer. I’ve probably gotten crazier. Don’t tell me about, ‘This is too hard.’ We’re all pros here. Be a pro.”

Sumrall’s arrival at Florida comes as college athletics prepares to enter the second year of the post-House settlement landscape. The 10-year agreement brought revenue-sharing to college sports with a $20.5 million cap in its first year. That figure is expected to grow to $21.3 million on July 1, as Ross Dellenger previously detailed.

Of course, Jon Sumrall also had to navigate the transfer portal upon his arrival at Florida, and he went to work retaining key players. Top names such as Vernell Brown III, Dallas Wilson and Jadan Baugh all stuck around. While retention was important, Sumrall admitted losing players is part of the reality. But he also praised the resources and support Florida offered as he built his first roster in Gainesville.

“We’re going to lose players at times even at Florida,” Sumrall noted. “There’s guys that left that I would have loved for them to have stayed. But they didn’t feel like it was maybe the right fit or they needed a change of scenery or whatever.

“It does feel nice to at least have some resourcing to be competitive and go retain guys and maybe in the open market you go acquire guys or add guys. You ask any coach, I think they’d tell you, ‘How much is enough?’ There’s never enough. You always want more. I feel better with more good players.”