Just before the start of fall camp, Florida football made a late addition to its coaching staff with Greg McMahon joining as an analyst.
The veteran coach built a career as a special teams coordinator. He made a name for himself with the New Orleans Saints where he coached from 2008 to 2016 and helped the franchise win the Super Bowl in 2009.
It’s where first-year Florida coach Jon Sumrall first crossed paths with McMahon in his first stint at Tulane as an assistant coach.
“I used to sit in the back of some of those meetings at the Saints’ facility and watch Coach McMahon run special teams meetings, and just be in awe of, like, how he commanded the room and the level of detail and the energy he brought,” Sumrall said.
McMahon’s career kept him in Louisiana as he eventually became LSU’s special teams coordinator and helped the Tigers win the 2020 national championship.
Like Sumrall, UF’s special teams coordinator Jonathan Galante was also in awe of the coach when he first met him in the SEC in 2019.
“I was a quality control analyst at Alabama,” Galante said. “We met for the first time in pregame, and he gave me a hug as if he knew me for my whole life. That speaks to who he is. He is a great person. A great coach, but an even better person. It’s going to be a lot of fun to have him around for sure.”
After a two-year stint in with the Houston Gamblers, McMahon returned to Louisiana and joined Tulane’s staff under coach Willie Fritz. When Sumrall replaced Fritz following the 2023 season, he expected McMahon to remain on staff.
Instead, McMahon announced he was ready to retire.
“’Summy, I think I’m retiring,’ ” said Sumrall, recalling the conversation. “I’m not going to go to Houston with Willie Fritz. I’m not staying with you. I think I’m done.’”
“I said, ‘Mac, pump the brakes. Let’s think about it. I won’t make you go on the road to recruit; you just coach special teams. Yada, yada, yada.”
However, Sumrall talked McMahon into staying for the 2024 season.
“Well, January 2 of 2024, he and I came to the agreement that he would stay for one year,” Sumrall said. “We had a fun year together. Had a blast getting to coach with him because I have such a great deal of respect for him. Then on January 2, 2025, he walked him off and said, “All right, I’m out. Like I told you, I was giving you a year. It’s been a year. See you later, bud.’ And so he retired again.”
But Sumrall refused to let McMahon’s football brain go to waste, and so last year he became a consultant to review game film.
“He would do some consulting on the side for me, watch tape, give Galante some notes and some thoughts because he would watch things a week ahead for us, and just kind of was like an independent contractor almost,” Sumrall said. “So he would come around once a week last year for us at Tulane.”
Once again, Sumrall thought McMahon’s coaching days were over once he took the job at Florida.
That is until McMahon came to visit Sumrall this spring with a proposition.
“Hey, would you be open to maybe me coming to hang around some in the fall?’ Sumrall recalled. “I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m always open to that, Mac. You know how much I respect you. You’re always welcome to come to practice. Like, what do you think?’”
But McMahon had another idea.
“I don’t know. I was thinking maybe show up at the start of training camp,” Sumrall said. “I’m like, ‘Sounds great. How long do we stay?’ He’s like, ‘I don’t know, maybe the last game.’ I was like, ‘That sounds freaking awesome.’”
Galante will still be in charge of special teams, but the perspective and experience will be welcome for the Gators’ staff.
“It worked out for him to be with us for the season,” Sumrall said. “He’ll be an analyst. Galante is running the special teams. Nothing’s changed.
“But to have another person like Greg McMahon on your staff that can be another set of eyes to help you maybe do some things is good, and then Johnathan and him have a great relationship and history together as well.”
Reach Florida Gators writer Andrew Abadie at AAbadie@usatodayco.com or on X (formerly Twitter) at @AndrewAbadie. You can also find him on Facebook at Andrew Abadie Sports Reporter or on Instagram @andrewabadie_sports.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Why Florida’s Jon Sumrall wasn’t ready to let Greg McMahon walk away from football
Reporting by Andrew Abadie, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
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By Andrew Abadie, Gainesville Sun | USA TODAY Network
