Florida football coach Jon Sumrall met with reporters following the Gators’ season-opening win over FAU on Saturday night.
Sumrall evaluated Aaron Philo’s debut as Florida’s starting quarterback, Jadan Baugh’s explosive performance and an offense that produced 66 points and 624 yards. He also praised Vernell Brown III, D.J. Coleman and the Gators’ perimeter blocking.
The first-year Florida coach was less satisfied with his defense, saying the unit has plenty to correct despite the lopsided victory. Sumrall also discussed his first Gator Walk, running onto Florida Field and the importance of continuing to develop the team’s younger players.
Here’s everything Sumrall had to say.
Opening statement
Glad to be 1-0 and happy for our guys. It was fun watching a lot of our production
tonight. I thought the guys came into the game with the right mindset and the right approach.
They were prepared. They didn’t take the opportunity for granted. They were emotionally charged and ready to go. There is a lot to clean up. It was by no means a perfect performance. There is a long list of things we have to get a lot better at if we have high goals here.
I’m grateful for the fans. Unbelievable turnout and energy. It was electric. I got asked a little bit ago about running out of the tunnel for the first time. It surpassed my expectations, and I had pretty high expectations of what it was going to be like. What an unbelievable crowd and great support. They had a huge impact on the game. We need that each and every week, which I have no doubt we will.
I’m grateful for the guys’ effort. There is a lot to work on and a lot to grow from. I told them just now that the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. That was step one. The goal this week was to be 1-0. We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and get a little bit better each day this week to keep improving.
What was your overall impression of Aaron Philo’s debut?
I’m proud of him. He’s prepared. He has worked really, really hard. He’s an unbelievable teammate. He’s a great leader. The game means a lot to him. I think he showed his comfortability by how he operated. He made good decisions for the most part with the football.
He was accurate. He distributed it well. I thought he did a really nice job. The interception really wasn’t on him, to be quite honest with you. That ball should have been caught. I thought he played really well.
We’re really young as a team. Jadan Baugh may not be young, but there were a lot of guys out there playing football who are just young.
I told the staff going into the game that we were going to be aggressive all night. We’re not in any position to shut it down right now. We’ve got to figure out who the next guy up is and roll guys in. We weren’t going to change how we played the game.
I’m very proud of Aaron. His preparation showed up tonight in how he played.
What is the injury update on Eric Singleton Jr.?
He had a little ankle injury. I don’t know how severe it is. He tried to give it a go. We’ll see. I’ll probably have more information for y’all Monday. Unfortunately, it happened really, really early.
What stood out about Jadan Baugh’s performance?
He’s a really good football player. I tell Buster all the time, “Don’t know what to do? Just hand it to 13. That will work, usually.” He’s phenomenal. He’s a great kid and every bit as good as I thought he would be. I told him the night before the game, “Hey, I’m glad you’re still here. Thanks for staying.”
I’m very, very glad he’s a Florida Gator. I love his playing style and demeanor. I also had a great appreciation for seeing his enthusiasm late in the game when he wasn’t playing.
He was excited for his teammates to have opportunities and success when he saw Duke, Byron and some of the other guys in the room get carries. Rubio got in there. Seeing his excitement for his teammates says a lot about him, too.
Was FAU a good opening test for Florida’s defense?
Early on, we couldn’t keep pace with them. Our defense was atrocious at times, quite honestly. We had a hard time keeping pace with them. I’ll watch the tape, but I’m a little bit frustrated with how we played defensively at times.
I don’t think we’re as good as we think we are. I think we’ve got some guys who feel like we’ve arrived in some spots, and that will be addressed. We’ve got a lot of room to grow on defense.
If it doesn’t happen really fast, we’re going to get embarrassed and exposed pretty handily in some spots because that wasn’t a great performance by us.
Hats off to FAU. They do some really good things. I love their quarterback. I played against the kid last year. I love the way he plays. He’s tough, competitive and a leader. He’s just a really good football player.
Zach does a great job offensively. Their offensive staff is really good at what it does, and they stress you out. That number eight, the little slot receiver, hit us on a slot fade. He’s a good player. He averaged 12 targets a game last year for them. I’m sure he probably had about that tonight. I don’t know how many he caught, but it felt like every time they threw to him, something good happened for them.
It was a good test. It was a really good test for a Week 1 game. They’re a talented team, and I wish them nothing but the best.
How would you describe your first gameday as Florida’s head coach?
It was a long day, but it was a great day. It was fun. A lot of fun. I tried to take in as much of it as I could, but at the end of the day, it’s about winning a game. You’re focused on what we’ve got to do to position ourselves to be successful on the field.
But all the great things around our program make this place what it is. The Gator Walk was unbelievable. When we left the hotel, there was a crowd of people in the hotel parking lot. I’m like, “All right, this is kind of cool. These people are waiting to see our guys walk to the bus at the hotel.”
The support we have here is unbelievable, and I could not be more grateful for it. We’re doing everything we can to make them proud. I’m very grateful for what Florida Gator Nation is all about.
How much fun was it to watch the offense produce 624 yards and 66 points?
It was fun. It was good. There was a lot of good in there and plenty of things to get better at. But I want our guys to have fun playing. I tell our team all the time that when you were growing up as a kid, you never said, “I want to go work football today.” You always said, “I want to go play football.” That doesn’t mean it doesn’t take hard work, but the work should be fun. Competing is fun, and making plays is fun.
The thing I’m most proud of tonight offensively is our perimeter blocking. Our receivers blocked their asses off. In the run game we created tonight, there were times on the perimeter when our receivers were competing to make blocks.
That says a lot about who they are. The character of a football player sometimes isn’t revealed when he is getting opportunities for production. It’s revealed by what he is doing to serve his team. I thought those guys blocked with edge and competitiveness.
That makes it fun. Competing is fun. I think it was a fun brand to watch tonight. We need to keep it up.
What did it feel like to run out of the tunnel for the first time?
It was exhilarating. I was like, “All right, this is real.” The energy in the stadium was — man, it was on fire. You could feel it. It was probably even better than I thought it was going to be. It was just really, really cool.
What did you think of D.J. Coleman’s performance?
D.J. is one of those guys who is just really consistent. He’s a high-level communicator. He has a high football IQ. He’s smart, tough and dependable. I’m not surprised.
He showed it in the spring game. He had a pick on the glance route, and everybody was like, “Oh, the quarterback threw a pick.” I’m like, “Well, that was a freaking unbelievable play that 33 made.”
He’s a really good player, and I’m glad he’s on our football team. He has been a great pickup for us. He practices really hard every day. He invests a lot in his craft. He’s just a steady, steady player. I’m not surprised by how he played because that’s how he practices.
What did Vernell Brown III’s first touchdown do for the offense?
He had a big night. That was his first touchdown. I was getting on him all offseason. I’m like, “You haven’t scored here. Everybody thinks you’re this big-time player. We’ve got to see you score touchdowns.”
To see him make the plays he made tonight — he had a couple of big plays. The first one was explosive. It was a great, great play by him. He’s another unbelievable worker, so I’m not surprised. He competes his tail off and prepares the right way.
I’m happy for his success because he’s one of the best leaders for a young player I’ve ever been around. He’s a second-year player, a true sophomore, and he’s a phenomenal leader and a great teammate.
Was Baugh’s 61-yard run the type of explosive play you wanted to see from him?
That was good. He stuck his foot in the ground at the end of that run to get more and didn’t just think the journey was over. I think he has taken on that challenge. We’ve challenged him with that sometimes on long, explosive runs.
I tell the receivers and the guys on the perimeter that an eight-, 10- or 12-yard run becomes a 40- or 50-yard run because they block better. They get on the safeties, and you’re kind of nagging the defensive backs and getting in their way to create longer runs.
It was great to see him pop that long one. I’m proud of his performance.
Did anything pleasantly surprise you or exceed your expectations?
Like I said, I thought our perimeter blocking was good. I thought certain guys on defense, at times, showed their contact courage. Maybe we weren’t where we needed to be across the board, but I felt some physicality.
Procedurally, I’m probably most pleased with the offense. A lot of times in Game 1, there are delay-of-game penalties, illegal formations, false starts or a lot of other issues. It felt fairly clean in how we operated offensively.
Our special teams played really well. Durk hit the 50-plus-yarder. I think it was a 53-yarder. I thought he kicked the ball off well.
Other than the kickoff coverage where we missed a hit and didn’t make the tackle, which I wasn’t pleased with, I thought there were a lot of good areas.
Why did you continue running the offense on the final drive?
At that point, I’m never going to be the one who tries to run up the score, per se. But I’m also not going to be someone who just shuts it down. Micah Jones scored the last touchdown, right? That was Micah, correct?
He is on the scout team all week right now. He’s a young player who needs to improve for his own development and for our football team to continue growing. Byron Louis is kind of the fourth or fifth back right now, so I wanted to see him play.
I wanted to see Tramell operate and compete. I wanted to get Will Griffin in. If we had another drive, Will Griffin was probably going to go in. Those guys practice really hard.
At that point, I’m not saying, “Hey, we have to score again.” If we score again, that’s the nature of the deal. They were also bringing a lot of pressure. We had to get the ball on the perimeter and do some things because they were loading the box to stop the run late.
Those guys work incredibly hard all week. When their opportunities present themselves, we’re going to let them play because we still have to develop those young players so they’re more ready.
What did it mean to earn your first win as Florida’s head coach?
It was 1-0. That was the goal this week. We’ll celebrate this a little bit tonight and then wake up tomorrow. We’ll watch the tape, make corrections and then turn the page tomorrow night at about 5. Our staff meeting is at 4 tomorrow. As soon as that staff meeting is over, we’ll watch special teams as a staff.
Then it’s 1-0 and on to Campbell. It’s about trying to win one game next week and focusing on that game all week. It’s a good start. Being 1-0 was the goal this week, and we got there. Tomorrow at about 5, my mind will be 0-0 again.
It’s just going into every game and focusing on one game at a time. It’s coach speak, but that’s how we operate.
What did you think of the offensive line rotation and the younger running backs?
Going back to it, we still need to figure out who we can rely on and who will be dependable. With the depth of our team, maybe on the line, there is still some room to figure that out. I wanted to see the backs go.
Rod Kearney came in. Caden (Jones) got in there, and Caden has started games before. He came in, and we need him to elevate his play. All those guys have to continue elevating. At offensive line, you have to get players ready to play because it’s a long year.
You never know when their opportunity is going to come. You can’t just think it doesn’t matter whether he’s getting better. We’ve got to get everybody in this program better. Everybody. Jadan Baugh has to get better. Everybody on our team has to continue getting better.
Those young linemen, Rod and Dice — Dice played some tackle that I liked. Those guys have to continue elevating so they can be dependable and reliable when their numbers are called.
Why did Evan Pryor not play, and how did the other running backs perform?
Evan was available, but he had a little bit of a hip issue that wasn’t feeling great. He didn’t feel like he could do it. He was cleared to go but just didn’t feel like he could push through it. I thought Duke did a really good job. London Montgomery is a good player back there, too. Byron Lewis did some good things tonight as well.
Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Jon Sumrall praises offense, challenges defense after FAU win
