Jon Sumrall’s Monday Week 7 press conference wasn’t a typical one. It lasted more than 45 minutes, longer than his introductory press conference. The media had questions on a variety of topics following a bizarre 4-2 (2-2 SEC) start to the season, and Sumrall clearly wanted to emphasize certain points.
There was plenty of information to sort through, so here are four highlights from Monday’s press conference.
Sumrall’s involvement with the defense increasing?
Sumrall has consistently said his coordinators will run the offense and defense. But with Florida’s defense struggling mightily through six weeks, it raises the question of whether Sumrall should take a more active role on that side of the ball given his background.
The short answer is that he’s not taking over the defense. However, Sumrall said he was more involved with the unit Monday than he has been on previous Mondays.
“It increased today a little bit,” Sumrall said. “I’ve inserted myself today more than I did maybe some other Mondays with the defense. But I always, I’m evaluating every part of our program and constantly trying to make changes that need to be made.”
Sumrall showed the team roughly 15 clips from the South Carolina game, highlighting decisions that led to unfavorable outcomes.
“I showed 15 plays roughly to the defense today from the game in a team setting, where I just showed them, hey, this one decision we made on the field, did we teach it like that in practice? ‘No, Coach, we do this.’ OK, well then, if we do that in a game, what happens right here? Well, it’s probably a sack.”
Still, Sumrall was clear that he isn’t taking over the defense. Instead, he’s identifying areas that need to change and making sure those adjustments are implemented.
“I’m not taking the defense over. There are some things I see that we need to, I think, adjust. And I’m making sure we’re adjusting them.”
Florida needs to learn how to respond to adversity
As I wrote in my South Carolina takeaways article, Florida has yet to respond after getting punched in the mouth. It’s a concern for coach Jon Sumrall, whose team has collapsed in the second half of back-to-back games.
Sumrall shared what he observed in the locker room at halftime of the South Carolina game.
“We’re down 17-10. I go into halftime, we’re in a weather delay, and I walk in the locker room. I look around and I look at the guys, and man, you would have thought somebody’s dog died. It’s like, ‘Man, we lost.’ I’m like, ‘Boys, we’re down seven points, and we get the ball to (start the) half. We got a pulse. We got a chance. Life’s pretty good here. Let’s go.’ I think we’re having to help our guys overcome.”
He wants to see more fight out of his team.
“There is a belief, a confidence, an intestinal fortitude of like, ‘I’m going to fight till the finish. Don’t even care about what the scoreboard says.’ And then we’ll look up at the end of the game and see what the scoreboard says. That is a concern of mine. It is something I saw and felt the last two games that we’ve got to get corrected.”
Sumrall explained to his team that close games are the norm in the SEC. Florida needs to continue building its belief that it can overcome a deficit and fight until the final whistle.
“I think where we have to grow as a football team, and I have to do a better job, is helping our guys understand it’s always going to be nip and tuck and tight games, and you have to fight until the finish. And it doesn’t matter if you’re up or down.”
Sumrall pushes back on two theories
Social media and message board theories ran wild over the weekend following another disappointing Florida loss. One theory was that Sumrall’s demeanor had changed, leading fans to question whether Florida’s administration had “reined him in.”
His response was an instant classic.
“Are you shitting me?”
Sumrall added that he wouldn’t have taken the job if he were going to be told what to do or how to act.
“If anybody wants me to act differently, I wouldn’t have come here. So good luck trying to reel me in, or tell me how to do it or whatever. My wife’s tried, hasn’t worked for her. I’m not very good at being reeled in.”
He did acknowledge that he can have two different personalities on the field, and that’s by design.
“I think if there’s anything there, it’s probably to go back to when things are going good for our guys: I’m probably more of a maniac on everybody. When things aren’t going good, I have to figure out how to calm down because we are still young, maybe at times immature, emotional bunch.”
The second theory centered on Vernell Brown III and his availability. Some fans questioned whether he was healthy enough to play but was choosing not to.
Sumrall was quick to dismiss that theory as well.
“Anybody that’s created any narrative on that, they’re just trying to take a shot at somebody. They don’t really understand the reality of the situation. He’s trying like hell to play, I can promise you that.”
Sumrall noted that Brown III was running at 85% on Wednesday, but he still didn’t look like himself during Friday’s practice. He added that he won’t put a player on the field if he isn’t confident and can’t protect himself.
“He’s doing everything he can to try to play. When you’re a speed player, if you can’t play with your speed, it’s really hard to go play, and you have to be able to protect yourself. I think he’s very frustrated because he wants to get back.”
Florida doesn’t have many options at cornerback, will need to address in offseason
It’s no secret that Florida’s cornerback play has been a disaster this season, but the Gators don’t have many other options, according to Sumrall. Four Gator cornerbacks have been in the rotation: Cormani McClain, Ben Hanks III, Dijon Johnson, and J’Vari Flowers.
“We’re not much deeper than that really right now at that position.”
Sumrall mentioned that fifth year cornerback senior Jordy Lowery got some action today, and that freshman CJ Bronaugh has been out with an injury but was able to participate in a limited capacity today.
Those are likely your next two options.
“We do kind of have who we have to some degree. You know, it sounds great to like, hey, the secondary’s not playing good, bench everybody. Well, who do you want to play? You know, like, you gotta play somebody.”
It’s an area that Florida will need to address in recruiting.
“We’re working our tail off to build for the future. While I want to win every Saturday right now, I’m also, involved in protecting how do we win in ’27, ’28, and ’28. We have to build secondary depth to allow our to, A’, maybe elevate the competition in the room, and also, B,’ move some pieces around more. We’re currently a little bit tighter numbered than I’d like to be with guys that can play multiple spots. it’s tighter than what I had at Tulane, to be quite honest with you.”