Jon Sumrall made it clear Friday that Florida won’t be shopping for late roster help from former pros as the Gators head toward the 2026 season.
Appearing on The Paul Finebaum Show, Florida’s first-year coach said the program is not looking to add anyone right now and plans to operate under the SEC’s recently adopted policy. Sumrall also pointed out that Florida’s roster is full, which means bringing in another player would require a cut.
“I’ll say this, we’re not in a position right now where we’re adding anybody on our football team,” Sumrall said on Finebaum. And then we’re going to follow suit with what Commissioner (Greg) Sankey, our presidents, and athletic directors in our league voted upon. Our football team, our roster right now is currently full, anyways.
“And so to bring somebody on, we’d have to make a cut, which I’m not really interested in doing it for guys that have been here all summer training, preparing, and that sort of thing. This is college ball. If you’ve played pro football and you’ve been in that game, to me, that ship has sailed for you.”
The conversation comes during a hectic stretch across college football, with a number of members of the Class of 2022 pursuing legal action to try to use the NCAA’s new 5-in-5 eligibility policy for the 2026-27 season. The court rulings tied to those cases have been difficult for many to track.
Sumrall said he’s not opposed to adding talent late in the process. He pointed back to last year’s addition of former BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff at Tulane in late July as an example of a move that could help a team. But he drew a firm line when it comes to players who have already gone pro and want to return for a fifth college season.
“I’m always open to adding good players,” Sumrall said. “I added (former BYU quarterback) Jake Retzlaff last year in late July because I thought it’d make our team at Tulane better.
And so you’re constantly figuring out how can you improve yourself as a team and find competitive advantages. But by everything that’s come out recently from our league office, I think it’s pretty clear that we’re not supposed to be trying to add those guys back to our roster.”
Florida opens the 2026 season on Sept. 5 against Florida Atlantic.
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