Urban Meyer says he had a direct hand in steering the University of Florida toward hiring head coach Jon Sumrall, and seven games into Sumrall’s first season in Gainesville, the former Gators champion is openly gushing about the choice.
Meyer, a College Football Hall of Fame inductee who won three national titles during his coaching career, including two at Florida, was asked by the university to help vet candidates during its latest coaching search. He told Dan Dakich on the show “Don’t @ Me” that it took just one phone call with Sumrall before he was convinced.
“I don’t like him, I love the guy,” Meyer said. “I never met him until this year, I was involved in the coaching search. They asked me to kind of vet, and one phone call, I hung up the phone and I called a guy on the board of trustees and I said, ‘you found your guy, man.'”
Sumrall, 43, has opened his tenure in Gainesville with wins over two top-10 programs, Ole Miss and Texas, before even completing his first full season leading the Gators.
Meyer, who left Florida in December 2010, said what stands out to him most about Sumrall is his attitude toward the modern pressures of the sport, including NIL compensation and the transfer portal, issues that have reshaped college athletics and frustrated many coaches of Meyer’s generation.
“This guy doesn’t b—h… you ever hear him bitch about the NIL? You ever hear him b—h about the transfer portal,” Meyer said. “No, he loves the game. He loves his players.”
Meyer also praised Sumrall for balancing toughness with genuine care for his players, citing a comment Sumrall reportedly made after a win over Texas.
“I love when he says, ‘yeah, we suck, we just suck less today and we beat Texas.’ I mean how cool is that?”
Meyer sees parallels between Sumrall’s program and the one he built at Florida, including the structure of so-called “Bloody Tuesday” practices and the prominent role given to the strength coach. At Florida under Sumrall, that role belongs to Rusty Whitt.
“The number two in charge is their strength coach, just like us,” Meyer said. “I believe he’s a Green Beret who runs the strength program, and he’s the culture.”
Meyer’s coaching tree includes names such as Ryan Day, Dan Mullen, Brian Hartline, Charlie Strong, Steve Addazio, Luke Fickell and Mike Vrabel, giving his endorsement added weight among college football observers. It has been roughly 11 months since Meyer made that initial call recommending Sumrall to the university’s board of trustees.
