Florida is doubling down on its rebuild under Jon Sumrall. With another key hire now in place, the Gators continue an aggressive offseason rebuild backed by a $16.3 million budget for assistant coaches and support staff, which places Florida among the SEC’s biggest spenders.

As per the new budget, this marks a huge increase in spending. Last season, the total staff salary was $15.7 million, which included Napier’s $7.4 million. The remaining staff had just $8.325 million, but Stricklin’s new allocation doubles that amount, signaling a significant shift in the program’s financial commitment.

The first hire Jon Sumrall made was defensive coordinator Brad White, who came from Kentucky to take the same position at Florida with a $1.75 million salary. After White, there’s Georgia Tech offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner, whom Jon Sumrall and his team got despite his signing a two-year contract with the Yellow Jackets a few months back.

His contract was worth $1.25 million going through 2027, and as per the agreements, he will owe 100% of his base salary to the team. Even though the numbers aren’t clear, the Gators might have given him more than his salary at Georgia Tech.

Former Auburn WR coach Marcus Davis brings strong recruiting connections, helping secure commitments from Cam Coleman, Perry Thompson, and Malcolm Simmons last season. He joins Phil Trautwein, who comes from Penn State to coach the offensive line.

Evan McKissack transitions from Tulane’s offensive line to tight ends, while Joe Craddock, formerly Troy’s offensive coordinator, takes over quarterbacks. Longtime Florida defensive line coach Gerald Chatman was retained to provide continuity.

On defense, Sumrall brought in his former Tulane assistants Greg Gasparato (inside linebackers) and Rusty Whitt (strength and conditioning). Former Florida linebacker Bam Hardmon will coach outside linebackers. Chris Collins arrives from Kentucky for safeties, and Brandon Harris comes from UCF to coach cornerbacks. Most salaries have not been disclosed, but several are expected to exceed $1 million.

Jon Sumrall’s eyes are on a major staff addition

Duke’s running back coach, Chris Foster, has emerged as a target for Florida’s vacant running backs coaching position. Foster coached the Dukes’ running backs during this season, where his players, Nate Sheppard and Anderson Castle, combined for 1,432 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns. On top of it, Sheppard finished this season ranked at No. 2 in the ACC with 962 rushing yards. This makes him eye candy for other SEC teams like Texas, too.

This urgency to hire a running back coach came after former Gators running backs coach Jabbar Juluke accepted the associate head coach for offense and running backs coach position at Texas. During his tenure in Gainesville, Juluke established himself as one of the top assistants. He coached many exceptional running backs like Montrell Johnson Jr., Trevor Etienne, Ja’Kobi Jackson, and Jadan Baugh.

Now, before coming to Duke in January, Foster built an extensive coaching resume across several other programs. He was at Northwestern from 2023 to 2024, East Carolina from 2021 to 2022, Georgia Southern from 2018 to 2020, Maryville in 2015, App State from 2012 to 2014, and Gardner-Webb from 2004 to 2011.

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With these stops, Foster also served as a recruiting coordinator and associate head coach during his career. This solidifies his resume even more. Now, with Jon Sumrall and the Florida Gators making a hard push to get Foster as running back coach, let’s wait and see if he really makes his way to Gainesville or not.