Florida’s offense and defense have both come under the microscope, but Jon Sumrall isn’t sounding like a coach ready to start ripping up the staff chart in the middle of the season.
That matters now more than ever. Week 11 has already brought a wave of coordinator moves around college football, with Ohio State firing special teams coordinator Robby Discher, Michigan moving on from defensive coordinator Jason Beck and Georgia Tech parting ways with defensive coordinator Jason Semore and three other assistants. Even Oklahoma made a change, moving on from Ben Arbuckle and handing the offense to tight ends coach Jason Witten.
Florida, meanwhile, is sitting in the middle of the storm after last week’s loss to Oklahoma, its fourth defeat of the season. The Gators’ offense has been hard to pin down all year, and even Sumrall has admitted it’s difficult to define the unit’s identity. Still, the message from his weekly press conference was less about sweeping change and more about constant evaluation.
“We have to do a better job as a coaching staff always of putting our players in a better position. Like, even when things go good, I’m like, what could we have done better for the players to help them?
And so there’s a lot where we have to improve as a staff. I’m not taking anything away from - every area of our program has to grow.
So coaches, players, all of us are in this together. And there’s a lot that we can do better moving forward.
And I think you’re constantly learning, like, where are we falling short? How do we avoid that moving forward?
You know, and there’s times where I’m really frustrated with what we’re doing. I’m not discouraged because I still believe in the direction we’re headed, But I get frustrated because I want us to be successful every time we play, in every play.”
The pressure points are obvious. Offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner and defensive coordinator Brad White are both under the microscope, and Florida’s numbers don’t help their case. Against Oklahoma, the Gators managed a season-low seven points, and their longest play from scrimmage was a 33-yard pass from Trammel Jones to Duke Clark.
On the other side of the ball, Florida has been leaking points all season. The Gators are tied for 97th nationally in scoring defense at 27.6 points allowed per game. Outside of the 52-3 win over Campbell in Week 3, they’ve given up at least 24 points in every game.
The offense hasn’t provided much relief, either. Florida’s run game has fallen off sharply since the first four games of the season, and the quarterback play from Aaron Philo and Tramell Jones Jr. has been uninspiring.
Sumrall said he has been involved in both sides of the operation every week, making sure his voice is heard in the room while also pushing the staff to respond.
“Every Monday with a team for the last month or so, ever since the South Carolina game, I’ve gone in with a defense to start every Monday and start their meeting with maybe some good and some bad,” Sumrall said. “And just kind of I want them to hear my voice and understand that I believe in them, but I’m also going to challenge them.
And then I bounce into the offensive meeting. I was in their meeting last Monday.
I wasn’t in there today as much early in the meeting. I popped in the end in the back.
I go to both staff meetings. I run our staff meetings.
Everybody hears my voice. They probably get tired of hearing my voice.
My job as a head coach is try to support everybody in our program.”
He also made clear that difficult conversations are part of the job, but tearing everything down is not how he wants to operate in the middle of a season.
“I don’t shy away from difficult conversations that can maybe make some people uncomfortable. I don’t really get uncomfortable in hard conversations.
I actually thrive in those environments. But at the same time, it’s my job to help build confidence in what we’re doing, even while I may be having to try to help us fix something or critique something or correct something.
“So you’re always trying to build up, not tear down. I don’t live in the mindset of, like, let’s tear this down.
Well, let’s build it up. Sometimes you build it up by making correction. and fixing things or addressing something that’s not going right.
So I meet with all our coordinators. I meet with both sides of the ball and the entire staff daily and discuss all of it, what’s going good and what’s going bad.”
For now, that sounds like the stance of a coach focused on correction rather than a shakeup. Sumrall has not had to make a mid-season coordinator change before, and part of that comes from the success he had at Troy and Tulane compared with his first season at Florida. Still, he’s acknowledging the problems plainly and meeting with the staff about them.
Whether that turns into visible changes on the field is the part everyone will be watching next.
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The pressure numbers told a similar story. Florida managed 17 pressures, but the team pressure grade came in at 61.2, its second-worst of the season, and quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. was noticeably more comfortable when he had a clean pocket than when the rush got home. In the secondary, cornerback Ben Hanks III had a mixed afternoon, allowing three catches on six targets while also breaking up two passes, which summed up a defense that had a few bright moments but not enough to change the outcome. [Read more 🡒]
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With recent changes at quarterback and little offensive rhythm to lean on, Florida has been forced to search for footing while trying to stay afloat against tougher competition, including Oklahoma. Sumrall said the Gators need to figure out what they do best if they want to get through the next stretch, and that challenge now looks as important as any matchup on the schedule. [Read more 🡒]
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