By Reice ShipleyShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberThe Florida Gators have been linked to many different candidates to fill their head coaching vacancy following Bill Napier firing back in October. On Sunday, the Florida coaching search finally came to an end after the Gators landed one of the top candidates on the market.
Florida was linked to Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin over the last month. However, Kiffin ultimately took his name out of the running, making the Gators shift their focus to Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall.
Despite reports that Sumrall may have been interested in the Ole Miss head coaching position if Kiffin left for LSU, which came to be on Sunday morning, Florida ultimately ended up convincing Sumrall to be the head coach for the foreseeable future in Gainesville.
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According to ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter, Florida is finalizing a six-year deal with Sumrall that will see the CFP contending coach earn $7.5 million annual. This, of course, equals a total salary of around $45 million over the duration of his new deal.
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On paper, it is certainly easy to see why Sumrall stood out to Florida as the right man for the job. It hasn't taken long for Sumrall to turn Tulane into one of the best programs in college football outside of the Power 5 conference, recording a 19-7 record over his two-year tenure with the Green Wave.
Despite the fact that Sumrall has had success at every program he has ever coached at thus far, he may very well have his hands full in turning around the once great Florida Gators team.
Notably, the Gators have had just one winning season over the past five years. While Florida has always been a highly sought after destination for recruits, there simply hasn't been much success to speak of in Gainesville as of late.
Sumrall will look to change that moving forward in an SEC that is set to look far different in the start of the 2026 season than it did to start the 2025 season after all of the coaching changes that came to be in the conference.
For more college football news, head to Newsweek Sports.
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