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Florida football was picked to finish in the middle of the pack in the conference in Jon Sumrall's first season in USA Today's preseason All-SEC poll.
The Florida Gators were picked to finish ninth in the 16-team and was one of four schools that failed to place a single player on USA Today's preseason All-SEC team. In addition to UF, Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State had no All-SEC player selections.
Sumrall was hired from Tulane on Nov. 30 after Florida stumbled to a 4-8 season in 2025, its fourth losing campaign in five years. He augmented his staff with two experienced coordinators with Power 4 conference experience, hiring Buster Faulkner away from Georgia Tech as offensive coordinator and Brad White from Kentucky as defensive coordinator.
A notable snub is Florida junior running back Jadan Baugh, who ranked third in the SEC in rushing with 1,170 yards and combined for 10 TDs (eight rushing, two receiving) last season. But the 6-foot-1, 228 pounds failed to beat out Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy and Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy for the top two spots. Hardy, recovering from a gunshot wound to his leg this offseason, rushed for an SEC-high 1,649 yards last season with 16 TDs last season. Lacy rushed for 1,567 yards last season with an SEC-high 24 rushing TDs.
Sumrall, 44, is set to speak at SEC football media days on July 22 in Tampa, along with Baugh, junior linebacker Myles Graham and sophomore wide receiver Vernell Brown III.
Here's a rundown of the preseason poll, voted on by 15 members of the USA TODAY Network who cover the SEC:
First-place votes in parenthesis
The All-SEC team, individual awards and predicted order of finish were selected by a panel of 15 writers who cover the league: Ryan Black (Courier-Journal), John Brice (USA TODAY), Kevin Brockway (Gainesville Sun), Adam Cole (Montgomery Advertiser), Jackson Fuller (Southwest Times Record), Colin Gay (Tuscaloosa News), Aria Gerson (The Tennessean), Sam Hutchens (The Clarion-Ledger), Lulu Kesin (Greenville News), Calum McAndrew (Columbia Daily Tribune),Sam Sklar (The Clarion-Ledger), Adam Sparks (Knoxville News Sentinel), Colton Sulley (The Oklahoman), Blake Toppmeyer (USA TODAY), and Marc Weiszer (Athens Banner-Herald).
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida football picked to finish 9th in USA Today preseason All-SEC poll
Continue reading...
The Florida Gators were picked to finish ninth in the 16-team and was one of four schools that failed to place a single player on USA Today's preseason All-SEC team. In addition to UF, Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State had no All-SEC player selections.
Sumrall was hired from Tulane on Nov. 30 after Florida stumbled to a 4-8 season in 2025, its fourth losing campaign in five years. He augmented his staff with two experienced coordinators with Power 4 conference experience, hiring Buster Faulkner away from Georgia Tech as offensive coordinator and Brad White from Kentucky as defensive coordinator.
A notable snub is Florida junior running back Jadan Baugh, who ranked third in the SEC in rushing with 1,170 yards and combined for 10 TDs (eight rushing, two receiving) last season. But the 6-foot-1, 228 pounds failed to beat out Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy and Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy for the top two spots. Hardy, recovering from a gunshot wound to his leg this offseason, rushed for an SEC-high 1,649 yards last season with 16 TDs last season. Lacy rushed for 1,567 yards last season with an SEC-high 24 rushing TDs.
Sumrall, 44, is set to speak at SEC football media days on July 22 in Tampa, along with Baugh, junior linebacker Myles Graham and sophomore wide receiver Vernell Brown III.
Here's a rundown of the preseason poll, voted on by 15 members of the USA TODAY Network who cover the SEC:
2026 preseason All-SEC football team
- Offense
- QB: Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss
- RB (2): Kewan Lacy, Ole Miss; Ahmad Hardy, Missouri
- WR (2): Cam Coleman, Texas; Mario Craver, Texas A&M
- TE: Trey'Dez Green, LSU
- OL (5): Cayden Green, Missouri; Drew Bobo, Georgia; Jordan Seaton, LSU; *Trevor Goosby, Texas; Wendell Moe, Tennessee
- Defense
- DL (4): Colin Simmons, Texas; David Stone, Oklahoma; Dylan Stewart, South Carolina; Will Echoles, Ole Miss
- LB (3): *Xavier Atkins, Auburn; Rasheem Biles, Texas; Whit Weeks, LSU
- DB (4): Bray Hubbard, Alabama; Ellis Robinson, Georgia; KJ Bolden, Georgia; Zabien Brown, Alabama
- Special teams
- K: Tate Sandell, Oklahoma
- P: Grant Chadwick, LSU
- All-Purpose: RB/WR Ryan Niblett, Texas
2026 preseason SEC individual awards
- SEC Coach of the Year: Steve Sarkisian, Texas
- SEC Player of the Year: QB Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss
- SEC Newcomer of the Year: QB Sam Leavitt, LSU
Predicted order of finish for SEC football's 2026 season
First-place votes in parenthesis
- Texas (9)
- Georgia (6)
- LSU
- Ole Miss
- Texas A&M
- Oklahoma
- Alabama
- Tennessee
- Florida
- Missouri
- Auburn
- South Carolina
- Vanderbilt
- Kentucky
- Mississippi State
- Arkansas
The All-SEC team, individual awards and predicted order of finish were selected by a panel of 15 writers who cover the league: Ryan Black (Courier-Journal), John Brice (USA TODAY), Kevin Brockway (Gainesville Sun), Adam Cole (Montgomery Advertiser), Jackson Fuller (Southwest Times Record), Colin Gay (Tuscaloosa News), Aria Gerson (The Tennessean), Sam Hutchens (The Clarion-Ledger), Lulu Kesin (Greenville News), Calum McAndrew (Columbia Daily Tribune),Sam Sklar (The Clarion-Ledger), Adam Sparks (Knoxville News Sentinel), Colton Sulley (The Oklahoman), Blake Toppmeyer (USA TODAY), and Marc Weiszer (Athens Banner-Herald).
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida football picked to finish 9th in USA Today preseason All-SEC poll
Continue reading...
