It’s been 40 days since the Billy Napier era ended in Gainesville. Florida’s coaching search was heating up. Jon Sumrall from Tulane Green Wave was the head coach everyone had circled. Turns out the Tulane coach isn’t feeling it anymore. The dream fizzled. Sumrall isn’t biting as he got busy with something more important.

On November 19, Gators Online senior writer Zach Abolverdi tweeted, “UPDATE: UF’s scheduled meeting with Jon Sumrall has been called off and Sumrall is removing his name from the mix in Florida’s coaching search, per @PeteNakos.” Just three hours before this tweet, Pete Nakos reported that Florida was about to fix a meeting with Sumrall on Thursday, November 20. But what made him change the plans at the last minute?

Priorities! For Sumrall, the Tulane Wave team is at No.1 in the priority list. After the head coach had shut the door for Florida, he was under the analyst’s radar. While Florida was yet to wrap its head around what made Sumrall change his mind at the last moment, the head coach himself soft-launched the reason. On November 19th itself, he dropped a picture of himself with his Tulane team. The caption said it all.

Sumrall wrote, “Most important meeting I have all week…Wednesday Night with QB’s! ⁦@On3sports.” In a follow-up tweet, the picture captured the Tulane players lazing around on the sofa with Sumrall standing at the back. “On 2nd thought Wednesday meeting with the Spears might just as important! #RMFW @On3sports,” read the caption. So, the Gators might have gotten their answer right now. 

Sumrall’s strong resume is what might have pulled him as the hot candidate. He carries success everywhere he goes- 40 wins in four years, Tulane at 8-2 and ranked No. 24, and a Gasparilla Bowl face-off with the Gators just last season. His Troy days were even wilder, posting a 23-4 run with back-to-back Sun Belt trophies and double-digit win seasons before making the jump to Tulane.

The SEC chops are there, too. Sumrall spent 2018 sharpening Ole Miss’ linebackers and then held down the linebacker room at Kentucky from 2019 to 2021, finishing as the Wildcats’ co-defensive coordinator before taking the Troy gig. So, this news of Sumrall cancelling his visit must bring huge respite to the Green Wave fam.

Their head coach did not just delay the visit; he removed his name from the list of candidates in Gainesville. Well, this is not the first time that Sumrall has gifted the Florida fam a heartbreak.

Jon Sumrall’s poaching tactics are at play

Back in June this year, while Napier still held the throne, the Gators got really lucky in the recruiting trail. They sealed eight commitments in that month itself. One of them was the 4-star wideout Marquez Daniel. Five months later, Napier was no longer in Florida. Even though Sumrall’s name started doing rounds as the best fit replacement, the Tulane Wave did not inch from targeting the Gators’ roster.

On November 12, Rivals tweeted, “Florida 4-star WR commit Marquez Daniel will take an official visit to Tulane this weekend, @Corey_Bender reports🌊.” While we are yet to find out whether Daniel would board Sumrall’s wagon or not, Florida still has some hope left in the head coaching search. 

While Lane Kiffin weighs his next move, his family is scouting the map. Before hopping over to Baton Rouge on a private jet, Layla and Knox were spotted in Gainesville on Sunday, November 16. Layla knows Gator Country well. Her father, John Reaves, was a Florida legend, slinging passes from ’69 to ’71 and leaving as the NCAA’s all-time leading passer. 

As soon as word got out that Florida was eyeing Lane Kiffin, the betting lines went wild. His odds crashed from +200 on November 4 to -150 by November 6. Maybe it’s time for Florida to quit chasing Jon Sumrall. He seems settled. So maybe Florida’s next play is to press the full-court press on Kiffin instead.