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Florida Gators (official thread)

Coach Jon Sumrall takes away Gators logos to push new team

Jon Sumrall had no idea one of his first major moves as Florida's football coach had been done before in Gainesville more than two decades ago.

Sumrall gave his players shorts, shirts and other gear without any Gators logos. It was reminiscent of Hall of Fame coach Urban Meyer's approach in 2005, which paid off with two national titles in his first four seasons at Florida.

"Gotta earn it. Gotta earn the logo," Sumrall said. "We ain't earned it yet. We haven't earned a damn thing. All we've got is our name. ... To wear the Florida Gator logo, to wear the Gators across your helmet, to wear the Gator head, you got to earn that."

Sumrall said he is unsure how or when the players can earn logos.

"I haven't thought about that yet," he said....:lol:

Florida hired Sumrall in late November, days after it became clear to athletic director Scott Stricklin that top choice Lane Kiffin was headed to LSU. Sumrall signed a six-year, $44.7 million deal to replace Billy Napier and potentially get the once-proud program back to national prominence.

Sumrall's coaching résumé includes four consecutive league title game appearances. He won back-to-back Sun Belt championships in two seasons (2022-23) at Troy and then led Tulane to the American title game in both his seasons (2024-25) there. The Green Wave won the league last season and earned a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Sumrall's first steps included keeping five top-tier players in Gainesville: linebacker Myles Graham, running back Jadan Baugh, defensive end Jayden Woods, and wide receivers Vernell Brown III and Dallas Wilson. Some of them considered hitting the transfer portal, but all ended up back at Florida -- at a combined cost of $5.2 million -- for Sumrall's debut season.

"Clearly, the most important thing to me was trying to retain our best players," Sumrall said. "Not going to keep them all, ever. There's a coaching change. There's going to be some change and some transition, but that part was critical for us to have any opportunity to have success next year."
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Coach Jon Sumrall takes away Gators logos to push new team

Jon Sumrall had no idea one of his first major moves as Florida's football coach had been done before in Gainesville more than two decades ago.

Sumrall gave his players shorts, shirts and other gear without any Gators logos. It was reminiscent of Hall of Fame coach Urban Meyer's approach in 2005, which paid off with two national titles in his first four seasons at Florida.

"Gotta earn it. Gotta earn the logo," Sumrall said. "We ain't earned it yet. We haven't earned a damn thing. All we've got is our name. ... To wear the Florida Gator logo, to wear the Gators across your helmet, to wear the Gator head, you got to earn that."

Sumrall said he is unsure how or when the players can earn logos.

"I haven't thought about that yet," he said....:lol:

Florida hired Sumrall in late November, days after it became clear to athletic director Scott Stricklin that top choice Lane Kiffin was headed to LSU. Sumrall signed a six-year, $44.7 million deal to replace Billy Napier and potentially get the once-proud program back to national prominence.

Sumrall's coaching résumé includes four consecutive league title game appearances. He won back-to-back Sun Belt championships in two seasons (2022-23) at Troy and then led Tulane to the American title game in both his seasons (2024-25) there. The Green Wave won the league last season and earned a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Sumrall's first steps included keeping five top-tier players in Gainesville: linebacker Myles Graham, running back Jadan Baugh, defensive end Jayden Woods, and wide receivers Vernell Brown III and Dallas Wilson. Some of them considered hitting the transfer portal, but all ended up back at Florida -- at a combined cost of $5.2 million -- for Sumrall's debut season.

"Clearly, the most important thing to me was trying to retain our best players," Sumrall said. "Not going to keep them all, ever. There's a coaching change. There's going to be some change and some transition, but that part was critical for us to have any opportunity to have success next year."
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$5.2M combined? Feels like a steal this year.
 
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Florida's 'gator bait' cheer, banned in '20, revived at opener

The University of Florida revived its "gator bait" cheer Saturday night during its season opener, bringing it back more than six years after the school banned it because of "horrific historic racist imagery" associated with the phrase.

New school president Stuart Bell said in June that "traditions matter" and hinted that the cheer could return because "it's meaningful to the Gator family."

It returned to the Swamp early in the first quarter against Florida Atlantic and was welcomed with a raucous reception. It was far from a surprise because clips of Florida's band practicing the accompanying tune were shared on social media this week.

Former Florida president Kent Fuchs announced in June 2020 that Florida's band would no longer play the musical cue prompting fans to chant "gator bait" because of concerns about possible racial undertones. Art depicting alligator hunters using Black babies to lure the animals into the open was popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
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