There he was, minding his own business in the safety and security of his hometown, and new Florida football coach Jon Sumrall started catching strays.
From Kirby Smart and Mario Cristobal, of all people.
Fortunately, Mike Norvell was nowhere to be found.
Wouldn’t you know it, this whole deal began with the biggest prankster and humiliator of all, the Ol’ Ball Coach himself, Steve Spurrier.
It was Spurrier’s annual dinner — that turned into a roast — to honor the best first-year coach in the nation, which was ironically delivered to first-year UNLV coach Dan Mullen.
He was taking strays, too, as a former Florida coach. Even on his night to be celebrated.
But what began as a fun mutual roast between Smart and Cristobal, quickly turned to Sumrall, who was simply sitting in the audience laughing at the back and forth between two of the best coaches in the game.
“I don’t know what you’re laughing at,” Smart said to Sumrall, joking, of course, but nonetheless a precursor to some biting reality as Smart turned to Spurrier and asked a question.
“Your daughter is a realtor, did I hear that right? Is she the best realtor in Gainesville?” Smart said to Spurrier, before turning back to Sumrall with the punchline. “Well, you’re the fourth (Gators) coach I’ve played since being at Georgia, so she’s getting a lot of money selling houses.”
Zing.
Sumrall laughed, the crowd roared and everyone had a good time. But I flat out guarantee that moment will stick with Sumrall.
Just like Cristobal hitting the stage and proclaiming, “I never felt so welcomed in enemy territory. Except last year at the Swamp, 41-17.”
Zing.
Those things leave a mark, especially for a coach who has promised a tough, unrelenting team that will fight every day to resurrect the once storied program.
For a coach who took over a Troy program that won five games the season prior, and won 23 games and back-to-back Sun Belt conference championships. Who took over at Tulane, and played in back-to-back conference championship games — winning the 2025 title and reaching the College Football Playoff.
Something Florida still hasn’t accomplished in the 12 years of the tournament.
A new Florida coach who, early last season at Tulane, made it clear for the rest of college football what kind of coach he was — and what he expected from anyone his teams play.
It was the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and Sumrall asked Northwestern if Tulane could wear white uniforms at home in the season opener — NCAA rules state visiting teams wear white unless the schools agree otherwise — to honor the victims, and the hardship New Orleans has worked through since the tragedy.
Northwestern promptly declined.
Tulane then beat the brakes off Northwestern, holding the Wildcats to 237 yards in a 23-3 whitewash. After the game, Sumrall didn’t hold back.
“When you disrespect the city of New Orleans,” Sumrall said, “You’re gonna run into it.”
Don’t think for a second Sumrall won’t use what happened at the Spurrier dinner as fuel for his team. Despite what the product has looked like in Gainesville for a majority of the last decade, there’s plenty of talent on the roster.
Florida had a chance to beat Georgia in each of the last two seasons, but poor coaching (and once an untimely injury to then-quarterback DJ Lagway) contributed to blown leads and the game slipping away in the fourth quarter.
This past season at Miami, the Gators had the ball and trailed by six in the fourth quarter. The play calling on the critical drive from former coach Billy Napier: run, run, run, punt.
The Florida defense finally wore down, and Miami scored 13 points in the fourth quarter to back up the 41-17 Cristobal spoke of during the dinner-turned-roast in Gainesville.
Florida won’t get another shot at Miami unless it’s in the postseason, but will get Georgia in November in Atlanta — when the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party temporarily moves because of stadium renovations in Jacksonville.
There’s not a better time for paybacks, this time with Georgia (not Florida) playing in its home state and 80 miles from campus.
Time for Georgia to run into it.
