In the cutthroat world of SEC coaching changes, loyalty to the old guard is a rarity. Yet, new Florida coach Jon Sumrall’s first major decision wasn’t about who to fire but who was too valuable to let go. Apart from Gerald Chatman, who enters his third season as D-line coach at Gators, Sumrall showed the door to every position coach. But in the backroom staff, the story was different.

“How much of what you saw here, whether it be administratively, facility-wise, or whatever. Did you walk in and say I like this fine? There’s no reason to change this,” prominent college football analyst Josh Pate asked Sumrall on March 26. Without any hesitation, Sumrall responded, saying, “A significant amount.”

Right after arriving in Gainesville, Sumrall met with the program’s leaders and urged them to outline a “couple of things” they liked under Billy Napier’s tenure. The idea was to draw from those “past experiences” and execute the blueprint that he followed at Troy. Sumrall was Troy’s head coach for two years and led the team to back-to-back conference championships. But he could only do it because he retained “half the staff” from Chip Lindsey’s tenure.

“I think the most important thing you do is you evaluate, and you listen. It’s not talk,” Sumrall said. “Were there some things here that I felt like needed to be recalibrated and adjusted? Yes. Are there a lot of things going right here that I think could create some synergy and help us have success? Also, yes. I think our high school recruiting side here has been run at a really high level.

I think we needed to change some things, maybe on the other side, the portal, and be a little bit more aggressive in certain areas to flip this thing quicker. But there were a lot of people in-house already here that I felt like, man, they may fit.”

Among the staff Sumrall retained, Gators’ nutrition and assistant performance coach Jake Sankal stands out most. He is currently in his second season with the team and has eight years of experience with the Washington Commanders. Due to his exploits in the NFL, two-time Pro Bowl tackle Jonathan Allen’s game soared, and he described Jake as “the biggest reason” for his success.

“Jake Sankal works at nutrition here. Jake is an absolute rockstar. I didn’t hire Jake; he was here,” Sumrall told Josh Pate. “Jake is a strength coach by trade who went back and became a nutritionist. So we have a head nutrition guy who is also a strength coach. So, when I got to meet with him and learned who he was and what he was about, I’m like, all you’re not going to leave, you’ve got to stay. There were a ton of examples like that in recruiting.”

But it wasn’t just Jake Sankal. Sumrall retained Billy Napier’s offensive analyst, John Donovan, and also kept his director of scouting and recruiting relations, Joe Hamilton. Hamilton is in his third season with the team, and Napier himself promoted him to assistant director of player personnel in 2023. Never mind, Jon Sumrall might have found his Bachelor of Science in sports management degree appealing. But it’s not just Hamilton, Sankal, or John Donovan.

Sumrall retained the previous quality control coach (WRs), Chad Lucas, as he enters his third season with the team. Director of recruiting operations Skylar Wise is also in her third season and has played a crucial role in the Gators’ top-15 recruiting classes in the 2025 and 2026 cycles. While many new hires did occur, keeping much of the backroom staff intact benefits the Gators’ culture and facilitates cohesion. Something the team now requires desperately after its woes with the previous head coach, Billy Napier.

Jon Sumrall refuses to change despite a massive transition to the SEC’s grind

Jon Sumrall has come to Florida after two exciting campaigns with Troy and Tulane. At Tulane, the 43-year-old stayed from 2024 to 2025 and led the team to back-to-back American Conference Championship Game appearances. But Florida isn’t a G-5 program like Troy or Tulane. It demands consistent results within the grind of the SEC. Most importantly, Florida wants to win its first-ever natty since 2008. Should Sumrall adapt and change accordingly?

“What you see is what you get. I’m not smart enough to have more than one personality. I don’t change,” Sumrall said on March 24. “You have to build that relationship through trust, and I’m authentic and genuine. I’m not changing for anybody. If you like it, great, and if you don’t like it, I’m good, it’s fine. I think, when you get around young people, they feel authenticity, and they feel genuine behavior.”

Sumrall will adapt his schemes, bring in favorable personnel, and create different rosters now to tackle the SEC’s grind. But at the core level, the new Florida head coach will likely remain the same. That’s probably the reason why he chose to retain many backroom staff names, following his old Troy blueprint. Maybe that’s exactly the reason why Sumrall will finally succeed in Gainesville.