Alex Golesh didn’t spend much time dancing around the subject of Jon Sumrall. When asked about the new Florida coach at SEC Media Day, the Auburn head coach made it clear he has plenty of respect for the man he’ll see again in Week 3.
Golesh and Sumrall know each other well from their time in the American Conference, where Golesh coached at South Florida and Sumrall was at Tulane. Their first conference meeting came two years ago, and the matchup will come around again on September 19, when Florida travels to Auburn to open SEC play for both programs. It will be Florida’s first trip to Auburn in nearly 15 years.
“Yeah, you know, Jon and I obviously competed against each other for a couple of years in the American. Gotten to know Jon well,” Golesh said.
“I respect how he works. I respect his approach.
I think he works as hard as anybody. Players believe in him, which is - you can see when you turn the film on when you play against them.”
Golesh was even more direct when he summed up what he sees in Sumrall’s teams.
“I think smart, tough, gritty. That's what his teams are.
That's what he's always been as a coach. Got a ton of respect for him.
We've got a long way before we get to that week three matchup. It will be fun in Jordan-Hare week three Saturday night,” Golesh added.
The contrast in style should make the matchup interesting. Golesh’s offense is built to play fast and pile up points when it gets rolling, and bringing quarterback Byrum Brown with him from USF gives Auburn a familiar piece to help drive that pace. Sumrall, meanwhile, has already shown he can slow that kind of attack down.
Their first meeting in 2024 ended with a 45-10 Tulane win. There was also hope they might meet again in the American Conference Championship game last season, but USF’s loss to Navy knocked the Bulls out of contention.
Golesh has had to navigate some awkwardness around his exit from Tampa, including a stretch where he avoided local media after making critical comments about his former school on the way out. Auburn, as it has done with coaches in the past, stepped in to protect him.
Sumrall will get his turn in the spotlight Wednesday at SEC Media Day. And when the teams finally meet in Week 3, neither side will be able to dodge the other for long.
In Other News...
Florida Just Got An SEC Reality Check Fans Wont Like
Floridas preseason picture in the SEC came into focus with a sobering note, as USA Todays annual All-SEC poll slotted the Gators ninth in the 16-team league. Even more striking, Florida did not land a single player on the preseason All-SEC team, putting it in the same group as Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State.
For a program trying to reset after a rough 2025 season, the message is hard to miss. Jon Sumrall, hired after that 4-8 finish, will get his first big public turn at SEC media days in Tampa on July 22, where he will be joined by several players as Florida tries to start changing the conversation before the season even begins. [Read more 🡒]
Florida Just Took Another Painful Recruiting Hit In The Secondary
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Coles pledge gives the Bulldogs nine blue-chip commitments in the 2027 class and, for now, leaves them with the only safety in the group. For Florida, it is another reminder that the battle for elite defensive backs is already intense well before signing day, and the Gators will have to keep pushing if they want to avoid watching more of the top regional talent head elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]
One Missing Piece Is Hanging Over The Gators Summer League Story
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Alijah Martins absence because of injury was the one obvious setback in the mix, even if the expectation remains that he should be in decent shape for his next NBA opportunity in the fall. The bigger question hanging over the Gators summer story, though, is what it means that Walter Clayton Jr. never suited up at all, leaving one notable piece of the picture still unresolved as the offseason moves on. [Read more 🡒]