Florida football switched gears this past offseason, moving on from Billy Napier’s disappointing tenure into the Jon Sumrall era in hopes of restoring glory to a once-proud program.
Early on, the decision to bring in the former Tulane Green Wave skipper has earned a good deal of praise from the national media, largely due to his successes in the transfer portal and on the recruiting front. USA TODAY Sports writers Paul Myerberg, Blake Toppmeyer, Jordan Mendoza and Austin Curtright all ranked the top 25 college football head coaches heading into the 2026 campaign, with Sumrall landing at No. 22.
“This might be the last chance to buy low on Sumrall stock. He won more than 78% of his games in four seasons as a Group of Six coach. He took Tulane to the CFP,” they note.
“Sure, he must still prove himself in the SEC, but there’s no reason to think he can’t reinvigorate Florida. He played in this conference. He’s worked in it, too, as an assistant. Sumrall became a hot commodity on the coaching carousel. He’s a good consolation prize for Florida after it missed on Kiffin.”
Speaking of the SEC, Toppmeyer recently ranked all 16 conference coaches, in which Sumrall landed in the dead middle at No. 8, between Missouri Tigers coach Eliah Drinkwitz and Vanderbilt Commodores skipper Clark Lea, respectively.
Interestingly, eight SEC coaches were also mentioned among the top 25, with Georgia’s Kirby Smart leading the way at No. 2, followed by LSU’s Lane Kiffin (No. 6), Texas’ Steve Sarkisian (No. 8), Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer (No. 9), Texas A&M’s Mike Elko (No. 13), Vanderbilt’s Lea (No. 23) and Tennessee’s Josh Heupel (No. 24) making the cut along with Sumrall at No. 22.
College football coaches rankings top 25
Number in parentheses denotes last year’s ranking
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Jon Sumrall cracks top 25 in college football’s head coach rankings
Reporting by Adam Dubbin, Gators Wire / Gators Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Adam Dubbin, Gators Wire | USA TODAY Network
