A year ago, Auburn officials were at Jon Sumrall’s home in New Orleans talking through a future they thought was close. On Saturday night, Sumrall returns to the SEC in a very different place: as Florida’s head coach, walking into Jordan-Hare Stadium for the Gators’ conference opener.
Across the field will be Alex Golesh, the man Auburn hired after its talks with Sumrall broke down. That breakdown came in a chain reaction touched off, in part, by Lane Kiffin’s move from Ole Miss to LSU - a decision that rippled through five SEC schools.
Florida had shown interest in Kiffin, then shifted to Sumrall after Kiffin left. Golesh, meanwhile, had been trending toward Arkansas during the final week of the 2025 regular season before that path changed too.
So now two coaches who were nearly elsewhere are meeting in the same spot, each 2-0, each opening SEC play in a job they weren’t expected to have last November.
Sumrall has not been interested in dwelling on the near-miss with Auburn. When asked this week whether he thinks about what it would have been like to coach in his home state, at his wife’s alma mater, he gave a flat answer: "Never.".
He was even more direct on Monday when a reporter asked whether extended family might be rooting against him.
"If I do, they're not family to me," he said. "Yeah, there's ties, but Florida pays my mortgage, so any family that is pulling against us, they ain't my family. I mean, I don't care what their last name is."
The matchup also brings together two coaches who know each other well from the SEC and beyond. Sumrall built his résumé as an assistant at Ole Miss and Kentucky, while Golesh worked at Tennessee. They later crossed paths as head coaches in the American Conference, where Sumrall’s Tulane and Golesh’s South Florida met once in 2024.
That game was lopsided. Tulane rolled 45-10, and Auburn spent Sunday studying the film from it.
"If you wanted to have a really, really rough morning, you could've sat with me and watched that yesterday, again, for maybe the 200th time -- and again, wanted to throw up," Golesh told reporters Monday.
Tulane finished 11-3 and won the American Conference before losing at Ole Miss in the College Football Playoff. South Florida went 9-3, climbed as high as No. 18 in the polls, and beat Florida on the road. Several players from that USF team, including quarterback Byrum Brown, are now on Auburn’s side for this rematch with the Gators.
Still, Sumrall doesn’t want that old result turned into some kind of revenge narrative.
"I don't know that game has anything to do with this game," Sumrall said. "... But there's not like a revenge game."
He added that he has "a lot of respect for Auburn" and pointed to his wife’s connection to the school. He also described Golesh as a friend.
"He said we were friends?" Golesh responded. "Not this week, we're not."
The bigger backdrop is the coaching carousel itself. The American Conference has become a launching pad for power-conference jobs, and the last cycle showed it again, with four AAC head coaches moving to major programs, three of them to the SEC.
The final week was pure chaos. By the Sunday morning after the regular-season finales, Arkansas, Auburn and Florida had all landed new head coaches, even though all three were thought to be headed somewhere else only days earlier.
North Texas coach Eric Morris started the domino effect by leaving for Oklahoma State and taking key playmakers with him. As Auburn’s process with Sumrall grew less certain late, communication cooled and he moved toward Florida.
Once the opening in Gainesville became public midweek, Golesh shifted his attention from Arkansas to Auburn, attracted to a program with two SEC titles and a national championship in the 2010s. Arkansas then turned back to Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield, a candidate it had already explored earlier.
Everyone involved says they got their top choice. Saturday will be the first real evidence, with Florida and Auburn meeting in a classic SEC setting that has been missing for a while. It is Florida’s first trip to Jordan-Hare Stadium since 2011, and it is the first SEC game for both head coaches.
"SEC play, they count different. They count twice," Sumrall said.
In Other News...
Alabama Commit Just Changed The In-State Recruiting Conversation
Trent Seaborn has become one of the biggest talking points in Alabama recruiting, and not just because he is already committed to the Crimson Tide. The Thompson senior quarterback opened the season at No. 12 in AL.coms Best in Bama rankings, then surged all the way to No. 1 as his play and profile kept climbing. For Auburn fans watching the in-state board, it is another reminder of how quickly the recruiting conversation can shift when a high-profile quarterback starts separating himself from the pack.
The movement at the top also came with a bit of turbulence elsewhere, as former No. 1 Gunner Rivers slid to No. 3 after a right knee injury in the season opener altered the picture. The latest rankings brought in new names and updated several other top prospects, along with their college commitments, giving a fresh snapshot of where the states elite talent stands right now. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn Just Got A Big Defensive Boost Before Florida
Auburns first SEC mandatory injury report of the season brought a little more clarity heading into Saturday nights matchup with Florida, and the news should help the Tigers on the edge. DaShawn Womack and Chris Murray are both trending toward playing after missing previous games because of injury, giving Auburn a chance to get two important pass-rush pieces back for a game that kicks off at 6 p.m. Central at Jordan-Hare Stadium and airs on ESPN.
There is still some uncertainty elsewhere on the report, though, with offensive lineman Tai Buster ruled out and tight end Hunter Herring along with edge rusher Joe Phillips listed as questionable. For an Auburn team trying to build momentum in conference play, the possibility of adding pressure off the edge comes at a useful time, even if the final availability picture still has a few moving parts. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor Fans Have Plenty To Debate After That Auburn Loss
Baylors season opener against Auburn had all the ingredients of a September talking point, from the defensive pressure to the late-game drama that left both sideline and fan base replaying every snap. The Bears came up just short in a 17-16 loss, but there was plenty in the performance to keep their followers engaged, especially after a defense that piled up five sacks and three interceptions made Auburn work for every yard.
Gavin Freeman gave Baylor a true spark with 12 catches for 154 yards, and DJ Lagways debut added another layer to the conversation even before the ankle injury limited what he could do. The close finish, the failed two-point attempt in the final seconds and the national audience of 4.24 million viewers turned this into one of those openers that lingers, because the result was clear even if the questions around the Bears are still settling in. [Read more 🡒]