Jon Sumrall Shows Off Recruiting Chops Without Even Having To Use The Portal
This guy could sell water to a fish!
When the Florida Gators bowed out of the Lane Kiffin Sweepstakes on the final Friday of the regular season of college football, many Gator fans – myself included – figured the world was ending.
Things got even worse when it was announced who Florida was pivoting towards to be their next head coach.
It wasn't an established Power 4 winner like Lincoln Riley or even Jedd Fisch, a program builder with ties to Gainesville.
Athletic director Scott Stricklin announced the hiring of Jon Sumrall, a Group of 5 coach from the state of Louisiana which, on the surface, made it look like Florida was content to just run it back with Billy Napier 2.0.
Since that day, however, Sumrall has done nothing but prove me and every other Gator skeptic wrong at every turn.
READ: Florida Coach Jon Sumrall On Just How Crazy NIL, Transfer Portal Have Gotten
The two biggest problems at Florida under Napier were the offensive play calling and the play of the offensive line, so Sumrall went out and hired the best available offensive coordinator (Buster Faulkner) and the best available O-line coach (Gator alum Phil Trautwein).
It may not seem like it, but landing some of the most coveted assistant coaches in the country takes some serious recruiting chops.
Faulkner, in particular, was being courted for head coaching jobs while Trautwein, with his track record in the trenches, could have had his pick of any offensive line job in the country.
Both are in Gainesville now, but Sumrall didn't stop there.
With the transfer portal opening less than a week ago, many Florida fans were concerned their roster would be poached as it had in previous years.
NFL players like Trevor Etienne and Princley Umanmielen once resided in Gainesville before leaving for SEC rivals, and Gator fans were worried they would see a repeat.
Of the five most important players Sumrall needed to retain on Florida's roster, the new head coach went an astounding 5-for-5.
Those aren't just five random names some Gator fan pulled out of a hat.
Four of the players listed were either All-SEC selections this year or last year, with the lone exception being Dallas Wilson, who was on pace to probably become an All-SEC Freshman selection before injuring his foot (ask Texas fans about Wilson's skill set).
These are five players who would have been top-100 players in the portal, at the top of their respective position rankings, and Sumrall kept all of them on campus.
Speaking of the Texas Longhorns, it was rumored that edge rusher Jayden Woods, running back Jadan Baugh, and the aforementioned Wilson, were all locks to transfer to Austin at the outset of the portal opening.
It looks like the Longhorns have now gone 0-for-4 against the Gators, with three losses coming in the offseason and one coming on the field.
If any Gator fan had doubts about whether Jon Sumrall could recruit in the SEC, fear not.
The man hasn't even completed a full recruiting cycle yet, but between his roster retention efforts and his ability to attract high level coaches to Florida, it's safe to say Sumrall's recruiting chops are up to snuff.
Once the games get played, we will see if Sumrall is about that SEC life, but as he said at his now-famous opening press conference, "Winner's win. I'm a winner. We're going to win."