With the Florida football team hiring Jon Sumrall as its next head coach, having been in the running for Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin, the situation between the two is looking to be different. As it was expected that the Florida football program wouldn't pursue Kiffin any longer, the team is giving Sumrall a luxury that the Rebels head coach will not be able to do.
Meaning, the Gators have said that Sumrall will finish his season out with the Tulane Green Wave, whom he is the head coach for currently, as they take on North Texas for the AAC title, according to Nicole Auerbach.
“Florida says that Jon Sumrall will finish out the season with Tulane. American championship game next weekend, and potentially the CFP after that,” Auerbach wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
This has been a point of contention between Kiffin and Ole Miss as he's taking the job with LSU as while there was some speculation if he would coach the SEC championship game, which they didn't, the team will make the CFP. However, heads of the Rebels don't want Kiffin coaching the team in the CFP.
“Ole Miss doesn't want Kiffin around its players with the transfer portal opening on Jan. 2. The Rebels also don't want their CFP games to be a “commercial” for LSU's future under Kiffin,” Mark Schlabach and Pete Thamel wrote for ESPN.
Jon Sumrall is excited to take over for the Florida football program
While Sumrall works on finalizing his staff for the Florida football team next season, there's no denying that the Gators were going after Kiffin originally. However, they quickly shifted to locking down Sumrall, as the Tulane head coach is excited to get to work.
“I believe in building a team rooted in toughness, accountability, and a relentless competitive spirit. Florida has everything necessary to compete at the highest level—the resources, the support, the tradition, and the passion of Gator Nation. My family and I are excited to get to work,” Sumall said in a statement.
Sumrall takes after Billy Napier with the team finishing with a disappointing 4-8 record.
