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Pete Golding teases Florida's Jon Sumrall ahead of playoffs

79417-removebg-preview (1)by: Corey Bender8 hours agoCorey_Bender

Florida’s new head coach Jon Sumrall is still finishing Tulane’s postseason run, but even his coaching friends are reminding him that Gainesville is waiting.

As Tulane prepares for its first-ever College Football Playoff appearance, new Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding couldn’t resist poking fun at Sumrall while praising him.

Sumrall was hired by Florida on Nov. 30 but remains with Tulane through the Playoff. The Green Wave earned the No. 11 seed and will travel to No. 6 Ole Miss on Dec. 20. The first meeting wasn’t close, as Ole Miss won 45–10, but the Rebels now have Golding in charge after Lane Kiffin’s departure to LSU.

Golding jokes about Jon Sumrall needing to get to Gainesville

Golding spoke highly of Sumrall, then delivered a playful warning about the Florida job.

“Obviously with us defensive guys, there aren’t a lot of us, so we’ve got to stick together,” Golding said. “Jon and I go way back. I recruit Louisiana and obviously he’s been at Tulane. My brother lives in New Orleans, so I love getting down there and seeing him. I think the world of him and I’m thinking a lot about him.

“I was just calling him, and obviously the Selection Show hadn’t come up, so I told him hopefully y’all got to go to Oregon and bring your ass out West. But he had a good indication that he was kinda pushing to get back to Oxford. It’s a little closer, so I was just congratulating him on a heck of a year and also talking about some of the Florida transition.

“I told him he better bring his ass to Gainesville because he’s gonna be losing all these players over the next two weeks if he’s not down there saving that program. But I was just messing with him and congratulating him.”

Tulane was outgained 548–282 in the first matchup, and Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss threw for 307 yards and two touchdowns. For Florida fans, however, the bigger storyline is Sumrall finishing this run and finally shifting full time into the Gators rebuild.

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