With Sumrall, only the strong survive

(Photo by Chris Spears)

Jon Sumrall’s inner linebacker is alive and kicking, his tough guy mentality formulating every aspect of transforming the Gators from losers in four of the past five seasons back into the championship mode that made Florida the winningest team in the country from 1990-2010. In Sumrall’s way of thinking, finesse can only take you so far. The teams that compete for and win championships take on an only the strong survive attitude.

“I am into making things hard,” Sumrall says. “Like, this is a challenging game and tough teams win. And so I think you have to embrace a level of toughness and grit it takes to be successful.”

The Gators and toughness have been like two ships passing in the night a hundred miles apart the past several seasons. Go back to 2020, the COVID year when the Gators had as explosive an offense as there was in college football but lacked the toughness necessary to win when it mattered most. Shoegate comes to mind. Marco Wilson picked up an LSU shoe and threw it drawing a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that extended what became the Tigers’ game-winning drive. Since then the Gators are 29-37. There was also the SEC Championship Game that season, winnable except for too many frivolous mental mistakes that gave Alabama the championship.

Tough teams would have won both those games. A tough team would have beaten Alabama in 2021, a game that proved pivotal for Dan Mullen’s tenure as Florida’s head coach. Fourth quarter collapses and failures to make big plays when they were most needed became the lasting memory of the four Billy Napier years at UF. Tough teams rise up in the fourth quarter. Tough teams don’t make silly mistakes like false starts at crunch time, jumping offsides or not having enough players on the field.

Some guys are born tough, but for others it is an acquired skill. In his first year as Florida’s coach, Sumrall is demanding toughness both individually and collectively. Whether it’s watching film, going through Rusty Whitt’s demanding strength and conditioning regimen or on the practice field toughness is demanded. It is as much a mentality as it is physical, specifically designed to create players capable of dealing with any situation or circumstance with a winning response.

“I do want our guys to be challenged to the point that they're mentally tough and they can overcome adversity because there's going to be adversity,” Sumrall said. “And so we create adverse situations every day in practice, but I’m never really prescribed, like, let's break them down. Now, I do prescribe to the theory of, like, let's push them to the edge. Like, let's make it right. Let's put our toe right on that line of how hard can we make this.”

You don’t instill toughness with practices that rely on finesse rather than physicality. You don’t instill toughness without finding the emotional and physical limit in each player.

The only way to bring out the desired attitude is raising the bar in practice, making the learned art of toughness into an instinctive response to daily demands. This is how progress is measured, telling Sumrall who he can count on and who probably would be happier somewhere other than the University of Florida.

“We coach them really, really hard all the time,” he said. “And, if they’re not coachable or don't want to get coached, then I don't want them to come here because it's not going to be a good fit.”

It has been 18 years since Florida’s last championship team. In the years since 2008 when the Gators beat Alabama for the SEC title and Oklahoma for the national championship there have been four unsuccessful appearances in the SEC championship game. A 34-year streak of non-losing campaigns ended in 2013 and in the years since five more Florida teams have finished with a sub-.500 record.

Sumrall is the fifth Florida coach since 2011. He knows what Florida once was and is tasked with bringing a return to life among the national elite.

“Our job is to always be demanding,” Sumrall said. “The standard is really, really high and it never waivers.”

ELSEWHERE IN THE SEC

Alabama: Running back AK Dear suffered what is being called a lower leg injury in Alabama’s first scrimmage that will keep him sidelined for at least six weeks. Dear gained 140 yards and caught three passes last year as a freshman. First game: September 5 vs. East Carolina

Arkansas: It’s a battle between KJ Jackson and AJ Hill for the starting QB job. Jackson can make some spectacular throws, but misses wide open sure things. Hill’s issues center around decision making. First game: September 5 vs. North Alabama

Auburn: “Sloppy” is how first-year Auburn coach Alex Golesh termed the team’s first scrimmage. “We need a bunch of work tackling, we need a bunch of work perimeter blocking, we need a bunch of work pre-snap, we need a bunch of crowd noise work,” Golesh added.  First game: September 5 vs. Baylor in Atlanta

Georgia: College football Hall of Famer Aaron Taylor came away impressed with Georgia’s offensive line after spending a day watching the Bulldogs practice. Taylor was particularly impressed with tackles Earnest Green and Juan Gaston. First game: September 5 vs. Tennessee State

Kentucky: Wide receiver Nic Anderson is being brought along slowly while recovering from a knee injury suffered last year when he was at LSU. Anderson caught only 12 passes for 106 yards after transferring to LSU from Oklahoma. First game: September 5 vs. Youngstown State

LSU: Tennessee transfer Jordan Ross has settled in as a first team defensive end, filling in for Gabriel Reliford, who will miss the 2026 season for a knee injury suffered during spring practice. As a sophomore at Tennessee last year, Ross had 23 tackles and 1.5 sacks. First game September 5 vs. Clemson

Mississippi State: Defensive lineman Will Whitson, who suffered a knee injury in game two last year, is back at full speed. Whitson had two sacks in six quarters before going down against Arizona State. First game: September 5 vs. Louisiana-Monroe

Missouri: Mizzou’s first unit offensive line is shaping up as LT Cayden Green, LG Tristan Wilson; C Dominick Giudice, RG Curtis Peagler and RT Luke Work … Ole Miss transfer Cayden Lee, who caught 44 passes for 635 yards for the Rebels last season, is expected to be the go-to guy in the Mizzou passing game, hooking up with fellow Ole Miss transfer QB Austin Simmons. First game: September 3 vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Oklahoma: Wide receiver Trell Harris, who transferred from Virginia after catching 59 passes for 847 yards and five touchdowns, is still waiting clearance for full speed contact. Harris and Texas transfer Parker Livingstone are expected to take the pressure off Isaiah Sategna III, who was the Sooners’ only downfield threat last season. First game: September 4 vs. UTEP

Ole Miss: On an On3 podcast with Andy Staples, Kirk Herbstreit called Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss “the face of college football this year. I think he’s as good as the sport has to offer at the position. The guy’s a stud.” First game: September 6 vs. Louisville

South Carolina: Freshman wide receiver Sequel Patterson has been an early standout. Patterson was a 2027 4-star recruit who reclassified to enroll early … Offensive tackle Jaccarius Peak will miss the first scrimmage with an injury.  First game: September 5 vs. Kent State

Tennessee: Edress Farooq, who was slated to be a starting safety, left Friday’s practice in an ambulance. His place in the lineup is expected to be taken by Penn State transfer Dejuan Lane. First game: September 5 vs. Furman

Texas: Wide receiver Ryan Wingo has been the early standout in fall camp heading into the first scrimmage. Wingo led Texas with 54 catches for 835 yards and seven touchdowns last year. Also standing out for the Longhorns has been linebacker Rasheem Biles, a transfer from Pitt who last season had 101 tackles, 4.5 sacks and two interceptions, one of which he ran back for a TD. First game: September 5 vs. Texas State

Texas A&M: Wide receiver Mario Craver added 15 pounds of muscle during the offseason. Craver, who caught 59 passes for 917 yards and four touchdowns in 2025, played at 165 pounds last season. First game: September 5 vs. Missouri State

Vanderbilt: Freshman Jared Curtis, who checks in at 6-4 and 235 pounds, is solidifying his grip on the first team quarterback position. New Mexico transfer Blaze Berlowitz is getting the second team QB reps. First game: September 5 vs. Austin Peay