'Hyped' Jon Sumrall brings energy, urgency to Florida football practice

During the first week of Florida football spring practices, new head coach Jon Sumrall often bounced from position group to position group, teaching, clapping.

Sometimes Sumrall offered encouraging words. Other times, stronger, sterner addresses.

The 43-year-old Sumrall has brought energy and a hands-on approach to the practice field for the Florida Gators, which is already rubbing off on players.

“He’s always hyped,” Florida wide receiver Vernell Brown III. “That’s what thing I can say about Coach Sumrall. Every day, you might not have the most energy, you might not be the guy that’s picking everybody up, but you see Coach come around and he’s having the energy. So, why can’t I?”

Sumrall said his goal is interact with every player on his roster, every day. On a team with 112 scholarship players and walk-ons, that requires plenty of steps on the Fitbit.

“Maybe not all, but almost,” Sumrall said. “And I’m definitely going to watch a little bit of every group in (individual drills) when we have as much individual time as we did today. We had 25 minutes, almost at (individual drills). If I can’t go watch every position group in 25 minutes, I got a problem. I’m the head coach of the whole team, and so I need to know the roster top to bottom.”

For Sumrall, who earned a degree in finance at Kentucky, there’s nothing more fulfilling than a day on the practice field. Sumrall recalled feeling like “the richest guy in the world” making $12,000 a year in his first coaching job because he broke into a profession he loved.

“If I wanted to sit behind a desk and just whisper to people, I’d go work at a bank,” Sumrall said. “I like coaching. I love coaching.

“There’s a lot of things about my job that I love. There’s some of them that I tolerate. The coaching part, I love. I love being on the grass. I love talking to the guys. I love really little details that may have something to do with footwork or hand placement or eyes or leverage or whatever. It’s every day.”

How Jon Sumrall is creating sense of urgency at Florida football practice

Florida strength and conditioning coach Rusty Whitt has worked under Sumrall the last four years — first at Troy and then at Tulane before joining Sumrall at UF.

“Coach Sumrall does a tremendous job of making every coach aware that, hey, it’s important every period,” Whitt said. “Every rep is important.”

Whitt then offered an example, saying that Sumrall chewed him out during UF’s first day of spring practice for failing to get a player off the field in time during a conditioning punishment.

“He’s trying to be urgent, and he’s digging in me and he’s digging in everybody,” Whitt said. “So yeah, he keeps you on your toes.”‘

One of Sumrall’s goals this offseason is to bring toughness and an edge to UF’s program though tough love and holding players accountable when warranted.

“I’ve been really pleased with their eagerness, their willingness, they’ve been very receptive to so many things we’re asked to do that are ridiculously different than anything they’ve ever done,” Sumrall said. “That’s not a shot at anything here before. It’s just we’re going to do things the way I want to do them. I’ve been really pleased with their response.”

Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Jon Sumrall’s energy impacting Florida football spring practice

‘Hyped’ Jon Sumrall brings energy, urgency to Florida football practice

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