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Jon Sumrall Thought Stench of Billy Napier Would Keep Florida From Hiring Him
New Florida Gators head coach Jon Sumrall had good reasons to think he didn't have a legitimate shot of landing the prestigious SEC job in Gainesville.
While Sumrall was a popular name last fall amid Tulane's run to the College Football Playoff, he didn't have any experience coaching at the Power 4 level. Billy Napier was fired from Florida amid a 3-4 start last season, and the Gators hired him after a successful run at Louisiana.
Sumrall was doing the math in his head after speaking to Florida, and didn't think he'd be a legitimate candidate to succeed Napier.
“We did the Zoom, but I really kind of went into it like… I told my wife ‘there’s no way I’m getting the Florida job," Napier said on the SEC Network’s ‘New Era’ special, via On3. “This isn’t happening. I’m like ‘I’m not getting the job, but I’ll do the Zoom.’ There were probably enough similarities with me and Billy (Napier) with our backgrounds resume-wise. I’m not real smart, but I’m not real stupid either.
“I can go, ‘hey, he was a G5 coach most recently at a school in Louisiana.’ I was most recently a G5 coach most recently in the state of Louisiana. Hey, I had coached in the Sun Belt previously. He came here from the Sun Belt. There were enough similarities where I was like, they may not feel comfortable making me the guy."
Sumrall argued that he's a much different coach than Napier, but would have understood if his resume didn't overwhelm the Gators.
Amid being courted by Florida, the Auburn Tigers had interest in Sumrall. Eventually, the Gators decided to pounce on Sumrall, and the Tigers hired former USF coach Alex Golesh.
Last week, Sumrall told "College Sports on SiriusXM" that he felt "blessed" to be hired by the Gators.
“I’m so blessed to sit in one of the jobs that my whole life, you know … 1993, I sat in the South End Zone in Legion Field and watched the SEC championship game," Sumrall said.
"It’s the Florida freaking Gators, you know? And so for me, this is like one of those jobs that when they kept going, I’m like, “Oh, this could be real.”
Now, Sumrall will be tasked with turning around a program that underperformed during the Napier era.
Continue reading...
New Florida Gators head coach Jon Sumrall had good reasons to think he didn't have a legitimate shot of landing the prestigious SEC job in Gainesville.
While Sumrall was a popular name last fall amid Tulane's run to the College Football Playoff, he didn't have any experience coaching at the Power 4 level. Billy Napier was fired from Florida amid a 3-4 start last season, and the Gators hired him after a successful run at Louisiana.
Sumrall was doing the math in his head after speaking to Florida, and didn't think he'd be a legitimate candidate to succeed Napier.
“We did the Zoom, but I really kind of went into it like… I told my wife ‘there’s no way I’m getting the Florida job," Napier said on the SEC Network’s ‘New Era’ special, via On3. “This isn’t happening. I’m like ‘I’m not getting the job, but I’ll do the Zoom.’ There were probably enough similarities with me and Billy (Napier) with our backgrounds resume-wise. I’m not real smart, but I’m not real stupid either.
“I can go, ‘hey, he was a G5 coach most recently at a school in Louisiana.’ I was most recently a G5 coach most recently in the state of Louisiana. Hey, I had coached in the Sun Belt previously. He came here from the Sun Belt. There were enough similarities where I was like, they may not feel comfortable making me the guy."
Sumrall argued that he's a much different coach than Napier, but would have understood if his resume didn't overwhelm the Gators.
Amid being courted by Florida, the Auburn Tigers had interest in Sumrall. Eventually, the Gators decided to pounce on Sumrall, and the Tigers hired former USF coach Alex Golesh.
Last week, Sumrall told "College Sports on SiriusXM" that he felt "blessed" to be hired by the Gators.
“I’m so blessed to sit in one of the jobs that my whole life, you know … 1993, I sat in the South End Zone in Legion Field and watched the SEC championship game," Sumrall said.
"It’s the Florida freaking Gators, you know? And so for me, this is like one of those jobs that when they kept going, I’m like, “Oh, this could be real.”
Now, Sumrall will be tasked with turning around a program that underperformed during the Napier era.
Continue reading...
