Jon Sumrall shares message to Florida’s 2026 class after first Zoom meeting

New Florida Gators head coach Jon Sumrall had a busy Monday. He’s going to continue coaching the Green Wave ahead of the team’s conference championship game this weekend, and they’re also on the cusp of a College Football Playoff bid as the highest-rated Group of 5 team in the country. Sumrall coached Tulane on Monday morning, and then he and his family were on a plane to Gainesville to meet with the team and hold his introductory press conference.

Jon Sumrall comments on his first meeting with the 2026 class

Sumrall’s time will need to continue to be managed at a high level. The December Signing Period starts on Wednesday, and the Gators are hoping to sign as many of those longstanding commits as possible. After Sumrall was hired by UF on Sunday, he, along with athletic director Scott Stricklin and new UF GM David Caldwell, held a Zoom call with 2026 commits.

The majority of Florida’s class wasn’t familiar with Jon Sumrall before Sunday. The Gators aren’t the only school in the country that went through a coaching search this fall. At the time of the Zoom call, Florida still had all 19 of their commits. Since that call, 4-star RB Carsyn Baker de-committed from UF on Monday night. However, the fact that the bulk of the class has stayed the course is Sumrall views as a powerful message about each commit. It was the main point he addressed with the group during their call.

“I Zoomed with those guys yesterday evening and their families,” Jon Sumrall said in his first press conference at UF. “First, I thanked them for not having a whole lot of decommitments, which is really powerful. It speaks a lot about what this place is. It also speaks to a lot about a number of people that are still in the building, still here working day-to-day right now.”

Sumrall explained some of his background and made himself available for any questions that a recruit or their family may have. He also asked them one simple request. For them to give him a chance.

“I thanked them for staying committed and not making a fast decision. I told them to give me an opportunity. I’d love to coach them all. They chose Florida for a reason that was bigger than maybe one person. Anytime there’s uncertainty, I get that you may look around and figure out, Hey, is this really right?”

Sumrall could inherit a talented Florida class, but there’s work to do

New Florida coach Jon Sumrall wasn’t able to comment on specific unsigned recruits by name due to NCAA rules. As a result of that, he couldn’t go into detail about what he’s gathered about the class when scanning the commitment list. The Gators’ class currently ranks No. 13 in Rivals team rankings. Sumrall is going to do everything in his power to try and hang onto each member ahead of signing day.

“I think we’ve got a lot of great players, and I think we’ve really got high character in that class. I think the staff has done a good job. I’m going to fight like heck to hold on to them. I FaceTimed with as many of them as I could last night until I fell asleep [on Sunday]. I’m going to FaceTime with the rest of them [Monday] and get them all knocked out and make sure they know, man, I can’t wait to coach them. I’d love to coach them.”

Regardless if its the 2026 class, trasnfer portal season, or any class in the future, Sumrall plans to make recruitng a priority at Florida.

“I’ll recruit with my hair on fire. I’ll recruit all the time. Like I said, I FaceTimed 10, 11 guys [on Sunday]. I’m going to FaceTime the rest of them tonight. I’m constantly recruiting.”