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Jon Sumrall reveals his rankings of Florida's most-heated rivalries

Danby: Daniel Hager05/22/26DanielHagerOn3

Although there are still 106 days remaining until Jon Sumrall coaches his first game at Florida, the newly hired head coach has seemingly won over most of the fanbase.

Thanks to his history of winning and his unabashed brashness, it appears as if many Florida fans are all in on Sumrall to lead the Gators back to national relevance. After hearing his thoughts on Florida‘s biggest rivals, Gator fans are sure to be even more bought in on their new head coach.

In a conversation with former NFL running back Damien Harris for CBS Sports, Sumrall was asked to rank Florida‘s four biggest rivalries from 1 to 4. The teams mentioned? Florida State, Georgia, LSU, and Miami.

“I think you probably have to start with Florida State,” Sumrall said. “We play them year-in, year-out. They’re in the same state as us. So, that one has to be at the top. Then you have to go with Georgia at number two. That’s kinda 1A and 1B. I don’t know if there really is a number two. It’s just one-and-one.

“And then the other two, you can kind of just mix them up. Miami‘s in our state, but we don’t play them every year. So maybe less of a direct rivalry. And then LSU is no longer on our permanent crossover deal, but still a pretty high, intense big game. But, the first two are really easy. The last two, you can kind of mix them up for me.”

Florida is seeking return to dominance in rivalries Jon Sumrall

Although Florida hasn’t won double-digit games in a season since 2019, it has owned the Florida State series in that span. The Gators are 4-2 against the Seminoles in six games, dating back to 2019. The same cannot be said about Georgia, however. The Bulldogs have owned the ‘World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party’ in recent history, winning eight of the last nine matchups.

As for the Miami and LSU rivalries, those don’t look pretty either. Miami has won nine of its last 11 meetings against Florida (dating back to 1986), and LSU has won six of its last seven (dating back to 2019). With Sumrall at the helm, Florida fans are hoping the Gators can get back to owning their rivalries against some of the sport’s biggest brands.

Florida will face off against two of the four listed opponents this season. It will meet with Georgia on Oct. 31 in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and will conclude the regular season against Florida State on Nov. 27 (game will be played in Tallahassee).