Jon Sumrall got the warmest reception of any coach at this week’s SEC Media Days. He also got a warning from Nick Saban that wasn’t entirely a joke.

“Let me just say one thing to you, Jon,” Saban said on the SEC Network during Wednesday’s Media Day. “I’m a Florida resident now, down there amongst the Gators. Governor DeSantis is a good friend, and you took our former President Stuart Bell, who’s now a Gator, and I want you to know I’m kind of a semi-Gator. So if you don’t get your sh-t together, I’m gonna be in the middle of it. I just want you to know that.”

Sumrall and the rest of the panel laughed it off. Saban’s stake in this is real enough, though. He bought a $17.5 million home on Jupiter Island after retiring, making him a part-time Gator whether he wanted the title or not.

Saban has good reason to be watching closely. Florida fired Billy Napier in mid-October after a 3-4 start, its fourth losing season in five years, and finished 4-8 under an interim staff. Sumrall arrives on a six-year, $44.7 million deal after building Troy and Tulane into consistent winners, and he inherited a roster that needed a near-total overhaul, bringing in dozens of transfer portal additions alongside a fresh signing class.

One of his first moves was hiring Buster Faulkner away from Georgia Tech to run the offense, a hire built on Faulkner’s track record of building one of the country’s most efficient rushing attacks with the Yellow Jackets.

Saban likes that hire. However, he’s less sure about what’s left over from the Napier era.

Saban warns of what could be the downfall of the Gators this upcoming season

Florida’s offensive line struggled to hold up physically last season, even with veterans like Jake Slaughter and Damieon George Jr. in the mix. The secondary had its own problems, and it showed in the offseason exodus. Defensive backs Jordan Castell and Sharif Denson were among several who left for the transfer portal once the season ended.

Saban didn’t hold back on pointing out Florida’s red flags that could ruin their season.

“Two issues at Florida: O-line, like we talk about a lot of places, and they didn’t play very well in the back end in the secondary last year. And that’ll be two areas they need to improve on. I think they have skill guys, they got playmakers, and they’ve got a good front seven. So if they can improve those two areas, they can have a really good team,” Saban said.

Those two spots, the O-line and the back end of the defense, are the areas most likely to decide whether Sumrall’s first season in Gainesville looks like a turnaround or another lost year.

Florida opens the season looking to prove Saban’s compliments right and his concerns wrong, starting when the Gators kick off their 2026 campaign.