Legacy looms large in Gainesville. After taking Tulane to the playoffs, Jon Sumrall arrives at Florida with a proven success record at Tulane and Troy. Now, if he builds on the same momentum, Sumrall can soon surpass Urban Meyer’s winningest record at Florida, as per a legendary former Gators’ head coach’s prediction.

“He’s a good coach,” Steve Spurrier said on the Another Dooley Noted Podcast. “I’ve said that before, and I started looking at his track record. He coached at Troy and at Tulane, 42. So he averages 10 wins a year, a little bit more, and that’s pretty doggone good. So here’s what I figured out. If he just averages nine wins a year, in eight years, he’ll be the second-winningest coach of all time here.

“Coach (Ray) Graves is still number two. That’s right. I mean, that was a big deal. I’m not bragging—I’m not bragging about my 122 wins—but after that, nobody stays more than four years, I don’t think. Urban was here six years and went 65, which was pretty doggone good.”

Urban Meyer is currently the third-winningest coach in Florida’s history after Steve Spurrier and Ray Graves. Spurrier finished with a 122-27-1 record across 12 seasons with the Gators. He was a former Heisman-winning quarterback at Florida himself and took that winning legacy and made the Gators into the SEC’s most feared program throughout the 1990s. Under him, the Gators won their first national championship in 1996.

Now, following him, there was Ray Graves, who held a 70-31-4 record coaching for 10 seasons. Then came in Urban Meyer, who took over the reins for six seasons with a 65-15 record. So, going by that timeline as per Spurrier’s stance, if Jon Sumrall maintains his pace of 9-10 wins during his six-year $44.7 million deal, he’ll be really close to Meyer’s record, and with an extension of just one year, he might be able to surpass him

Looking at Jon Sumrall’s winningest record at Troy and Tulane of 43-12 with two Sun Belt titles, he already carries the potential to knock Meyer’s record. Something that even Meyer saw in Sumrall when he took the Gators’ job.

“What a special day for Gator Nation,” Meyer said. “Welcome, head football coach Jon Sumrall, one of the top five coaches in winning percentage in college football. I’ve studied Coach Sumrall. I got to spend some time with him over the last few months. His teams are tough; they’re physical, and he creates a competitive environment.”

However, this is Sumrall’s first time head-coaching an SEC team. And knowing the Gators’ history of tough schedules, breaking Meyer’s record can be a tough task for him. But ironically enough, Jon Sumrall’s journey to breaking Meyer’s record is going through a path that Meyer carved with his own two hands.

Jon Sumrall doubles down on Urban Meyer’s approach

Jon Sumrall didn’t just come to Florida with a mindset of just a turnaround, but a total culture shift. During the Gators men’s basketball game against Auburn, Sumrall made his offseason approach pretty clear during the halftime media availability.

He made it pretty clear to his team that they need to “earn the logo.” Players will be without the Gators’ logos during practices and workouts until they prove their caliber and excellence.

“Got to earn the logo, man; we haven’t earned it yet. We haven’t earned a damn thing,” Sumrall said. “All we’ve got is our name. To wear the Florida Gator logo, to wear the Gators across your helmet in script, or to wear the gator head. You’ve got to earn that.”

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This approach dates back to the time when Urban Meyer used to follow it during his coaching time.  Now, with a new team consisting of 25 players added through the transfer portal, Sumrall is reinforcing toughness through early-morning workouts under strength coach Rusty Whitt and making sure his players are building on a strong mindset.

With these cultural changes in place, let’s wait and see how things turn around for the Florida Gators in the 2026 season.