Jon Sumrall didn’t end up on the Auburn sideline. He ended up in Gainesville. And now, less than a year after all the coaching carousel smoke tied him to the Plains, he’s the Florida coach getting ready to walk into Jordan-Hare Stadium for an SEC opener against the Tigers.
That alone gives Saturday night a little extra bite. Florida fired Billy Napier and was linked heavily to now-LSU head coach Lane Kiffin.
Auburn moved on from Hugh Freeze and quickly emerged as the favorite for Sumrall, then at Tulane. Sumrall had plenty of reasons to fit Auburn, too: he’s an Alabama native, he previously coached at Troy, and his wife, Ginny, is an AU graduate.
Kiffin, meanwhile, seemed like the natural Florida fit before LSU became the destination and Florida pivoted to Sumrall, who said in his introductory press conference that he and his family chose Florida back despite having other options.
Auburn eventually hired USF’s Alex Golesh, even though earlier rumors had him headed to Arkansas. Nine months later, the paths have crossed anyway.
And neither coach is interested in making the week about old connections.
"Yeah, there's ties. But
Florida pays my mortgage," Sumrall said of having personal ties to Auburn. "So, any family that is pulling against us, they ain't my family.
I mean, I don't care what their last name is. You know what I mean?
"I got a lot of respect for Auburn. Great place, good people.
I got a lot of friends; my wife went to school there, so a lot of crossover. But I'm a Florida Gator, and everybody affiliated with me closely as a Florida Gator, or they're not affiliated with me closely."
Golesh, for his part, is taking the same hard-line approach. He and Sumrall coached together in the American Conference for two seasons, and Sumrall won their only meeting in 2024.
"He said we were friends? Not this week we're not," Golesh said on Monday.
"I've got a ton of respect for Jon. We were both assistants in this league at the same time, and he did a great job at Troy, high-end job at Troy.
Did a high-end job at Tulane. I've got a ton of respect for how he works, ton of respect for who he is.
I think he does it the right way, competes like crazy. I've got a lot of respect for him.
This week, don't care."
The matchup itself has been scarce lately. Florida and Auburn have played just once in the last 10 years, with the Gators beating the Tigers 24-13 in 2019 in a game between unbeaten teams.
Before that, Auburn beat Florida on the Plains in 2011. The rivalry may not show up every season anymore, but the edge around it clearly hasn’t gone anywhere.
For Florida linebacker Myles Graham, that part matters.
"It's different. It's definitely a different level of intensity because at Florida, these are the games that you come here to play," Graham said.
"Like these games that you dream of, just being a top player in these games makes you a legend. So that's a big deal for everybody.”
There’s plenty riding on the SEC opener, too. Auburn opened with a tight win over Baylor and followed that with a victory over Southern Miss.
Florida has handled FAU and Campbell at home to start 2-0 for the first time since 2021. But the numbers around the road trip haven’t been kind to the Gators: they have not won at Auburn since 1999 and are 0-3 there since, and they have not won a road SEC game since Sept. 21 at Mississippi State last season, going 0-6 in that stretch.
Florida also has not won an SEC opener since 2023, and it has not won its SEC road opener since 2020.
"SEC play, they count different. They count twice," Sumrall said.
"I tell our team all the time when you turn to conference play, you’re counting your overall record and your college record. The ones the last two weeks counted overall.
So these games count twice. So, it's a tremendous challenge, tremendous opportunity, go on the road."
Poll chatter lingers, too. Florida remains just outside the AP Poll after its latest win, while Auburn is still without votes. A third straight victory for the Tigers could change that in a hurry.
But once the ball is kicked just after 7 p.m. ET on Saturday night, the rankings and the resume talk will fade behind the setting and the people in it. This one is about a renewed rivalry, and the coaching ties that come with it.
"If there's a whole lot that needs to be said to get anybody further in to go play in SEC football games, we got the wrong people here," Sumrall said. "And I'll say something to hopefully get them ready, but there should be some self-motivation here."
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Florida opened with two straight wins under Jon Sumrall, including a 52-3 rout of Campbell, but the early buzz around the Gators is already running into a bigger-picture concern. A glance at the 2026 schedule suggests there wont be many easy Saturdays waiting down the road, and the latest results from those opponents only sharpen that view.
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