Scott Stricklin sees 'early indication' Jon Sumrall can win championships at Florida

You never quite know when you’ve got a football coach that might lead you to championships. Florida athletics director Scott Stricklin knows that all too well after having to fire the program’s last three coaches.

But sometimes there are early indicators a coach is on the right track. And Stricklin sees a big one blinking green for new coach Jon Sumrall, who arrived by way of Tulane. He revealed it Wednesday on the Paul Finebaum Show at the SEC spring meetings.

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“There’s one thing that every coach does in a job interview, Paul, is they start telling you who they want to put on their staff,” Scott Stricklin said. “And it’s a theory, right, because you have no idea if they can actually get those people. But they’re trying to sell you on their ability to put a staff together. And there are coaches that do that and they show up and the people that they had identified, they’re not able to get on their staff for whatever reason.

“From the first time we talked to Jon, he said, ‘I want to get Buster Faulkner as offensive coordinator from Georgia Tech and Brad White as our defensive coordinator.’ He basically put together the staff that he said was going to put together. To me those coaches who can do that’s an early indication that, No. 1, they are in touch with what the reality of their ability to attract talent is. And then, No. 2, they’ve identified really good coaches. Those are really high-level coaches.”

Sumrall certainly seems to have ignited the fanbase in the few short months since his arrival. Keeping that flame burning will likely require some success on the field in the fall, but it’s a good start.

For his part, Scott Stricklin is liking what he’s seeing. Starting with that staff.

“So all that’s to say I like the staff he’s put together,” the Florida athletics director said. “The accountability in the program that he’s put in place. Proof is in the pudding, right, you’ve got to go win football games. But I just think the guy… his track record, he’s done it two different places. And the early returns in what he’s done inside the program I think has got Gator Nation really fired up.”

Scott Stricklin on Jon Sumrall’s confidence

There are perhaps two other things that stick out about the new head coach to his current boss. First, Sumrall always seems like he’s just slammed a highly-caffeinated Mountain Dew.

“He’s got a lot of energy,” Stricklin said. “He’s just an authentic, genuine person and he’s maybe as relatable as anyone you’ll ever come around. Just what you see is what you get, and it’s a lot of fun.”

The other thing that helped Sumrall land the job? A certain level of familiarity.

Scott Stricklin was working at Kentucky when Sumrall was playing linebacker there in the early 2000s. Then, the two crossed paths again in 2024 when Florida played Tulane in a bowl game. They were able to reconnect.

Stricklin was able to recall just what a fierce competitor Sumrall is. He rarely backs down from a challenge.

“You start digging in and the way he talks, the way he looks at things, it became obvious this is a guy that is going to succeed at a high level,” Stricklin said. “He’s done a great job with the Gator Nation since he’s been in Gainesville. His engagement, goes back to what I talked about, his relatability.

“The job’s not too big for him. And at a place like Florida, in any sport, any position, you’re going to be following somebody at some point who did a really good job. And obviously coach (Steve) Spurrier and coach (Urban) Meyer are that with Gator football. Jon has embraced them, but he’s not intimidated. Much like Todd Golden isn’t intimidated by Billy Donovan‘s legacy, he’s trying to build off of it. I see a lot of similarities in Jon.”

Will that be enough to right Florida after a decade or two of mostly futility? The program’s last SEC title came all the way back in 2008. And Scott Stricklin made it clear: Winning those again is the goal. Sumrall has his marching orders.