The Florida football program hired Jon Sumrall on Sunday, to be its next head coach. Sumrall had lots of success at Tulane, and was seen as a hot candidate on the college football coaching circuit. Following the hire, Florida is continuing to fill out the football program's staff.
“Florida is finalizing a deal with former Jacksonville Jaguars general manager David Caldwell to be the Gators' next general manager, sources tell On3,” Pete Nakos reported on X, formerly Twitter.
Caldwell was working with the Philadelphia Eagles, in the franchise's front office.
Sumrall had also been in talks with Auburn about their coaching vacancy, but talks broke down in recent days. He joins a Florida program desperate for success, following the firing of Billy Napier.
Florida is one of three SEC schools who announced coaching hires on Sunday. The other two are Auburn and Arkansas. LSU is also putting on the final touches of hiring Lane Kiffin away from Ole Miss. Kiffin and Ole Miss have had some tense negotiations as he prepares to leave the Rebels.
Sumrall spent the last two seasons as the head coach at Tulane. He helped lead Tulane to the AAC championship game this season. He also coached at Troy for two years, to great success.
Sumrall won 19 games in two seasons at Tulane. He has three seasons with at least 10-wins, in the last four years.
Caldwell's job will be to attract top talent to the Florida football program. It won't be easy, as the Gators have fallen in the SEC. Florida won just four games during the 2025 campaign. One of the team's wins was against Texas.
Florida football was one of several schools that pursued Kiffin, but the Gators didn't end up with the Ole Miss coach.
