Jon Sumrall has every staff member rank Florida's top players

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Every football coach has the same goal when it comes to personnel: get the best 11 on the field. For first-year coaches like Florida’s Jon Sumrall, identifying those players during your initial offseason is key.

And when you’re a brand-new staff with only one returning assistant coach and a roster of 112 players to learn, there’s a lot of evaluations to be had. To help streamline the process, Sumrall leans on his coaches and staff members.

“I’ll have everybody on our staff rank, regardless of position, write down the top 11 players. So like, offensively, I don’t care if they put in seven receivers in the top 11 if they’re the best. Don’t feel the offense or defense, tell me who the best 11 are. OK, now give the next six or seven in your eyes. And I make every person do it individually, so there’s no group think.

“Because what happens is inevitably we get in a room and most of the guys in the room, they’ll look to the coordinator for what he thinks,” Sumrall explained on the GNFP Podcast. “I care a lot what the coordinator thinks. They’re the coordinator for a reason. But man, somebody may see something that we all don’t see about a player that we need to get that guy on the field more.”

Sumrall and offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner have both said they want to feature the best players on offense. Running back Jadan Baugh may be Florida’s No. 1 offensive player, but the Gators think they have one of the best wide receiver rooms in the country as well.

Tight end has been UF’s weakest position on offense for a few years — and it still is. It used to drive Florida fans crazy to see the previous staff run so much 12 personnel when the pair of tight ends were not two of the team’s better players. Sumrall shares their angst.

“To help you see how I view it is like, man, if we got four receivers or let’s say six receivers in the top 11 and no tight ends and we’re playing a lot of 12 personnel, then we’re freaking idiots,” he said. “Or if we got three DBs but five EDGE rushers in the top 11, well you know what we probably need to do? We probably need to play with another EDGE rusher and not care that we can’t match it as much.

“Get the best players out there. Like, get the guys that make plays, that affect their team, that have things they do that make people uncomfortable. Put them on the field. And then tweak what we’re doing around them. And so, I’m not say we’re going to play in all 10 personnel this year or that we’re gonna play with two JACKs this year, but every year is so different.”