Florida head coach Jon Sumrall can improve to 3-0 with a win on Saturday at Auburn. (Photo: Hannah White/UAA Communications)
Influential Auburn Grad Helped Gators Land Sumrall
Tuesday, September 15, 2026 | Football, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — With the Gators set to play Auburn on Saturday, Florida head coach Jon Sumrall's return to the state where he spent his formative years is a natural storyline.
In addition, that stretch in late November saw many Auburn devotees expecting Sumrall to be their head coach in 2026.
"I was hoping he was going to go to Auburn," Toney Pugh, an Auburn offensive lineman in the 1970s and whose son, Ryan Pugh, was the center on Auburn's 2010 national championship team, said recently. "That's just me. I knew him when he was playing [in high school]. He does the right things. He knows how to coach. He's going to lead those guys in the right way. It would surprise me if he doesn't get that thing going in the right direction."
Pugh was not alone in rooting for Sumrall to come home.
Sumrall grew up in Huntsville, Ala., and was head coach at Troy for two seasons (2022-23). While his mother and brother are University of Alabama graduates, Sumrall became increasingly popular across the Yellowhammer State after taking over Troy's program and leading the Trojans to back-to-back conference championships.
He left for Tulane, won another conference championship and led the Green Wave to the College Football Playoff last season.
With Auburn and Florida both searching for new head coaches after last season, Sumrall became a popular topic on barstools and message boards across the Deep South.
Jon Sumrall and his wife, Ginny Sumrall, after Saturday's win over Campbell. (Photo: USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)
Former Auburn quarterback Patrick Nix still haunts many Florida fans' nightmares. Nix's last-minute touchdown pass to Frank Sanders in 1994 at The Swamp lifted the Tigers to a 36-33 win over the No. 1-ranked Gators.
Nix resigned as head coach at Central Phenix-City (Ala.) High in January, but got to know Sumrall over the years as a former college coach and during Sumrall's recruiting stops at Nix's high school. Nix also mingled with Sumrall's older brother, Joe Sumrall, in college and participated in Fellowship of Christian Athletes events together.
Nix was convinced Sumrall was headed to Auburn based on the rumor mill last November.
"I purposely kind of didn't talk to him through any of it,'' Nix said. "I knew he had a lot going on. It was a time of just trying to give total respect to him and the decision that he was making. But quite honestly, I thought he was about to get the Auburn job."
Another quarterback, Tyler Weaver, is a good friend and former teammate of Sumrall's at Grissom (Ala.) High. Weaver had mixed emotions when Sumrall's name was linked to Auburn before the Tigers hired former USF coach Alex Golesh.
"I'm a huge Auburn fan,'' Weaver said. "I thought we were going to get him. I woke up and heard that he was going to Florida and was like, 'There's no way. He's going to tear it up there.' I mean, he was made to be a football coach. If Auburn couldn't get him, I'm a Florida fan now."
Sumrall did some heavy flirting with the Tigers, but that was before Gators athletic director Scott Stricklin and UF's search committee moved on from Lane Kiffin and targeted Sumrall. When the official offer arrived, the most important person Sumrall spoke to before deciding was an Auburn grad.
That's right, his wife, Ginny Sumrall.
"You've got to take the Florida job,'' Ginny told him.
Not long afterward, the family uprooted their life in New Orleans and now calls Gainesville home.
"Gainesville has been so welcoming,'' Ginny said. "The passion of the fans, even the people that are not Gator people, is just so encouraging and supportive."
It took only three questions for Sumrall's Auburn ties to surface during his Monday press conference.
A reporter asked whether any family members were rooting against him this week.
"If I do, they're not family to me,'' Sumrall said.
What about his thoughts on the Auburn connections?
"Yeah, there's ties. But Florida pays my mortgage. So any family that is pulling against us, they ain't my family. I mean, I don't care what their last name is. You know what I mean? Allegiances, I mean, look, I gotta lot of respect for Auburn. Great place, good people. I got a lot of friends; my wife went to school there, so a lot of crossover.
"But I'm a Florida Gator, and everybody affiliated with me closely is a Florida Gator, or they're not affiliated with me closely."
