Florida football is coming off an embarrassing Week 9 loss to Georgia in the annual rivalry game, which dropped the team to 5-3. With four games left on the schedule and Oklahoma coming to town next weekend, head coach Jon Sumrall spoke with the media on Monday about the challenges his team faces as it heads into the home stretch.
Among the topics discussed were the mistake both he and his team made against the Bulldogs and the corrective measures he is taking to resolve them, as well as the injury issues facing several players — including Vernell Brown III and Duke Clark — plus the situation at the quarterback position as well as a look ahead at the Sooners.
Below is a look at everything Sumrall said to the media on Monday.
Jon Sumrall's opening statement
Appreciate y'all being
here. Not what we need to do last Saturday as a team. We got an opportunity to respond this week, excited about that. A lot of growth is needed within our football team. We're hard at work, getting it done. So with that, we'll open it up to questions.
On taking the flaws from the film, the penalties, implementing them into corrections on the field
Like we talked about in the past, they're all different to me. I talked about mine to the team this morning. I said, "Hey, who made mistakes on Saturday? Raise your hand." And I raised mine. I got a penalty now. I didn't run into the ref, he ran into me. But I was on the green, not in the white, and so I just — we all have to be accountable for it. And we have refs at practice every day.
You know, there's certain ones I can live with; there's certain ones I can't. Some of them, like I talked about, when we get a DPI down the field, the guy's trying to make a competitive football play on a receiver. That doesn't really bother me as much. There's ones that are egregious that do. Unsportsmanlike's or unnecessary roughnesses bother me. Some don't bother me.
And so, you know, I think you can look back. Our margins for winning right now are smaller than they need to be, and so we have to find every way to find an advantage to be successful. I'd also say you can go back and look at, you know, Coach Meyer's teams here were pretty penalized. And Coach Saban's had some pretty penalized teams that won a lot of games.
So I don't know whether there's usually a correlator of penalties. It's the type of penalties that bother me. It's not – the number is one thing, but the type, that's where I have a problem.
On Jaden Edgecombe's running into the punter penalty
We don't leave our feet on punt block unless you're there when the ball is still in the punter's hand. We've never worked jumping on punt block. And so we, the rush was well designed. We had a free rusher on the shield. But the technique wasn't the right technique.
And obviously, that was a momentum swing. He's an unbelievable young man. And he was really disappointed in himself on it. I went over him to say, "Hey man, you got bounce back." He had not been on that team as much the last few weeks.
Obviously, Bailey Stockton being out had him playing that role, because when Bailey's — if Bailey's at returner, then he has to play some, or we have to find somebody else, but that spot that that spot was is usually Bailey's spot in the rush, if Bailey's available and somebody else is at returner. And so we've had to recalibrate personnel, but that was a tough one for sure.
On the buy-in with what's left to play for, a chance to finish 9-3 but other goals off the table
Yeah, undefeated's off the table clearly, but that has been for several weeks. And I told our team, we're 5-3, we're 3-3 in the conference. I would much rather be 8-0 and 6-0. That'd be, if I got to pick, that's what I'd pick. I also told them, we still have a lot left to play for.
We're in a situation as we enter November — and November football — we haven't had a winning SEC record here since 2020, I don't believe. We have a chance to do that still. So that's a pretty substantial goal. It's not like I'm just comfortable having a winning record, but that is, we have to find ways to continue to grow as a program. And so that's something to me.
And then, look, we have to go one day at a time. We have 25-ish days till the last regular season game. There's a lot left to play for. I showed our team what that looks like, too, to be quite honest with you. I talked to them about it today, because that's something after you go into a game that maybe is as hyped up as last week's was, sometimes you worry about, man, how much gas is in the tank emotionally?
And it's something I have to help them understand is, like, "Guys, man, you signed up for the whole year, and what does that look like when we have to finish this thing the right way." There's still, to me, a lot left to play for. And we have to have enough pride in ourselves to go play hard no matter what's out there.
On what he showed them
I showed him what 9-3 looks like versus 5-7. At the end of the day, if you win the next four, lose the next four, how does that feel? A lot different. I talked to them about the SEC record in conference play that we haven't had or have had in a while, and I'd like to see that change. Like, you know, that's a step in the right direction to try to create some of that positive momentum as we build.
So there's certain things in-depth I shared with them that are still out there left to play for. Clearly, undefeated has been off the table for a few weeks, but there's still a lot to play for in my mind."
On what it means to have Urban Meyer coming back going into the Ring of Honor, how you can use it as a source of motivation
Urban's been nothing but great to me. You know, I went through the process of taking this job, spoke to him a couple of times before accepting the job. Have always had a great deal of respect for the way his team's played, the edge, the physicality, the style of play, tremendous leader.
When he came here and spoke to our coaches' clinic this spring, I had him spend time with our coaching staff and, you know, basically gave him the head coach's chair for a little bit, let him leave a meeting with our staff to kind of help cast what expectations look like in Florida and what the standards are. And, man, he deservedly is being honored this weekend.
I talked to our team about the history of Oklahoma-Florida. There's only been two games played. One was a 2009 BCS National Championship game — so fitting that he's coming back when we're playing Oklahoma, because that was a big one in his career here.
But a tremendous amount of respect for Urban. I get texts from him almost weekly, if not weekly or more than once a week. He's always very encouraging. He's always honest. He's always truthful. He never shies away from telling me that what he sees that's going on, good and bad, and I appreciate that because I'm a realist.
But really, I'm grateful for the relationship I have with him. He's been incredibly good to me and Shelley's been great to my wife, too. On Sunday, my wife told me they're going to brunch after the game. Shelley and my wife are, but Urban really didn't invite me. I got too much work to do.
On if Meyer's telling him what's bad about the play on the field
Nah, not really, no, he's just honest. There's a lot of comfort between me and him, because we both shoot it pretty straight, so we go back and forth. He's always really encouraging for me. It really is. It's been nothing but a source of motivation, inspiration, encouragement that he's been for me.
On the quarterback plan for the week
They both (Aaron Philo and Tramell Jones Jr.) practiced today; that's good news. There will be one guy that starts and one guy that doesn't out of the two guys you're probably worried about. I'm not gonna make a big quarterback-one announcement. I have a plan that is already kind of in motion and in place.
But I don't know that it helps us with me naming a starter today. We need both of them to be ready to play to go win, you know, and I think probably, while I fully understand that we need to play better quarterback, we do, we can't turn the football over like we have, especially in particular last week's game; it's been the worst one of the year. We have to play better around the quarterback, too.
I've met with the — you know, I meet with the defense every Monday to show, really since South Carolina, to show them a handful of plays that I want highlighted, good and bad. I met with the offense today and walked in that room and talked about how the quarterbacks, see, you're, you know, the man in the arena; you're the guy that gets critiqued the most. And those guys got broad shoulders; they can take it.
But also talked to that offensive room about, man, we can help those guys more. Like, the line, the tight ends, the backs, the receivers, everybody else in that room, they need to play like they're the ones getting critiqued the most, because right now, man, we're not making the quarterback's job any easier. We're making it harder.
And so my frustration with our football team is, yeah, we need to play better on offense, and the quarterback may have something to do with that on plenty of plays, but it would be really nice if we make the quarterback's job easier. And if we'll protect for them, we're gonna hit some more explosive plays in the passing game. The problem is, in protection, we haven't been consistent, and that's been frustrating for me.
So I called the other 10 guys out in the room today that play along with the quarterback. And so I'm confident both guys will respond. There will be no QB1 announcement today, though.
On facing another good defensive front
Yeah, it gets easier, got Oklahoma this week and their defense (laughter). That's this league, though. They are really good. I think what's most impressive about them, they have really good individual players, like the pieces they play with are really talented, but I think they are maybe even as talented as they are individually, what's unique about them is the sum is greater than what you would think the individual parts are. They play really well together.
You can tell the time they spent in the system with Brent, and the cohesion defensively; it bleeds through the film. It really does. They understand the disguise of what they are trying to present to you and how to get in and out of certain things. They communicate at a high level. As I said earlier, they got great players, but they are, I think, just a really sound outfit that does a great job defensively.
On the confidence level in Florida's offensive line
We got to play good. I'm so worried internally about us that it's got very little to do with what's on the other side because what's on the other side is pretty good every week in this league. Oklahoma is really good on defense. Georgia, really good on defense looking back. Texas, really good on defense.
It's funny, I was watching the South Carolina-Oklahoma game last night and I'm like, I don't think people are giving South Carolina enough credit for how good they are on defense. Number 6, number 40, the one interior defensive guy, the freshman kid, the two linebackers, 0 and 17. Their personnel is elite.
So every week in this league you're going to play great personnel. No different with the challenge this week at Oklahoma. You're gonna get beat on a play here and there; my problem is when we beat ourselves. In this league, you're not gonna bat a thousand in your one-on-one battles, you're gonna lose a rep. But what is frustrating right now for me with the way we're operating offensively is, we're not helping ourselves.
The Gators have beat the Gators plenty in the last few weeks offensively with how we've helped the quarterback. And so, around that guy we gotta do a lot better job.
On if Florida mis-evaluated its offensive line this offseason
You know, I'd say, that's a good question, Mark. There's different layers to it. When we came in, I think, the number one thing you're trying to retain anybody you think can help you that's on the roster. Then, as you go out in the portal, into the market, you look to see who you can add with what you're resourcing is.
And I'm not taking a shot at our resources, but like, the price of offensive tackles is the price of offensive tackles. We've maybe put it together the best we can. I believe in who we got, it's worked at times this year, and it hasn't worked at times this year. We gotta make it work better with who we've got right now. I believe in the guys we got right now.
Do we need to continue to upgrade that room as we move forward? Sure. We need to upgrade every room on our football team if we have championship aspirations for the long haul. But we can win with what we've got. We got to help them better too with how we coach them and how demanding we are and get them to play consistent.
Should be easier to evaluate transfer offensive linemen in his second offseason at Florida?
I would say this: I meet every Wednesday with our front office staff. Dave Caldwell, Nick Polk, Chris Prescott, the whole gang, Cole Heard, they're all in there. We watch high school tape, and then we watch basically what we need in the portal. A lot of the portal happens before the portal opens, it seems like now. We're working through what are our '27 needs.
Right, wrong, or different, I may have done this roster a disservice by doing two jobs for a little while. I wasn't going to leave where I was when we were still playing for a conference championship and we were in the CFP. I do think even if I had been here full-go the whole time, you're still so far behind, because what happens is, no different than high school recruiting, we're really on the '28 class in high school right now. The '27 class is really done.
The portal, you know, when the portal really starts for your football team? I know it opens in January; it starts in like September. That's when the groundwork for, like, okay, project next year's roster. What are our strengths, what are our weaknesses, what are the adds we have to have, what are the adds we'd like to have, and where are we probably good on our current roster? We really didn't start until December.
Dave and I got here simultaneously, and there are so many things you're juggling that we were behind in the portal on our own roster. There were people who had had more conversation with guys on our roster about going somewhere than we had had about staying. Why? Because there was no permanent head coach in place for several weeks.
So for six, seven weeks around here, there was a feeding frenzy on our roster. That's what made retention of players so challenging. The sharks were in the water before we got here on our own team, much less who do you add. So for the initial wave of roster construction for our '26 team, we had to play catch-up with our own building, much less outside the building.
Outside the building, we were way behind. We were behind inside our own building. That was probably the most frustrating part of how to construct this year's roster, like, just hold on for dear life. Like, you felt like you were on a roller coaster that was making you nauseous at times.
On what you saw from the quarterbacks after rewatching the game
I thought at quarterback we had too many balls that were in jeopardy with both guys. The first turnover that Philo had, to me, was a little bit off. I've never seen anything like that, to be quite honest with you, and he even knew it. He's like, "Coach that was not real smart." I'm like, "Yeah, I got you, move on." His response to that one, he was ready to keep going.
The second one — throw was catchable, not fully on him. And then Tramell had a couple of turnover-worthy plays. One that we got fortunate on: the 3rd and 20 where they called the roughing and then the one in the end zone where we threw the corner route and the corner fell off. There was plenty of those that didn't go good for him.
We list them as "or" because right now I need both of them to be ready to be our starter at any point. We're going to move forward with, "Like, hey man, both of you guys are competing every day." I think what's driving me a little bit crazy is it's really hard to fully evaluate the quarterback position when we're not playing good enough around them. I don't know if Tom Brady was our quarterback on Saturday if it would have helped us.
And I'm not trying to be a smart aleck. He would have been under too much duress and pressure to operate. And so, the quarterback position right now, while I don't think we're playing good enough at times there, I'd like to see everybody else play a little bit better so we can fully evaluate what we have going on there.
Aaron's first interception, that's not hard to evaluate; that was on him, just not making a good decision of knowing the journey is over. But as a whole body of work right now, we're not helping those guys enough. It's team football and we're not playing good enough around them as a team.
On if he seeks input from players on deciding a quarterback
I don't necessarily ask. I think you look at how guys respond. I'm not great at some things. I'm usually pretty good at reading people and just their body language, their demeanor, their response. I would say I'm pretty good at that. Over the years, I've developed a pretty good trait for seeing how guys react to each other.
The beautiful thing is the way those two guys have treated each other has created no conflict. Are they competing with each other? Yeah, they both want to be the starting guy. If they didn't, we have a problem. You want guys that want to be the starter. But the way they've handled it has not created division within our football team.
So I think, when I've heard our guys talk about it ever, whether it be Dallas Wilson or Bailey Stockton or Jadan Baugh, whoever, they're like, "Coach, we're gonna rock with whoever's the quarterback. Let's go play." That's been their spoken deal. So I haven't felt any sort of deal there.
But I don't really go to the players and go like, "Hey, let's take a poll here. Who wants this guy to start? Who wants that guy to start?" We have a leadership council. I do value player feedback. I take the body of work of what we see them do in games in practice, we grade every rep. We talk about balls in jeopardy, completion percentage, shot-play accuracy, all the things that matter. Getting us in and out of right plays, shifts, motions, pre-snap things, all the stuff that goes into playing the position.
And then I think the room should be smarter than one person. So I usually listen to the room, then I make a decision. It comes down to me making a decision for everybody. When we decided to put Tramkel in on Saturday, that was my decision. I just thought, hey, we need to spark here. We need to make a change. We need to see if he can give us some juice. But I don't take a player poll.
On the leadership council
Yeah, just the leadership council that we have. I lean on them for — hey, there are issues in the locker room, cleanliness, like that kind of stuff. Is the training room going right? Is there an issue with something in the building? I just want to make sure that they're the voice to me that's very direct when something's going on the team, but not on playing time.
On Vernell Brown III's status
So he had a little thing done this morning to address, hopefully, some of the issue. The thing I want to make abundantly clear here is he's trying like hell to play. And the frustrating thing for him is he looked good Monday, Tuesday. He looked good most of Wednesday — had the little setback Wednesday at practice that, at the time, we felt like was a little setback, and then woke up Thursday with more swelling than we anticipated — and not as much range of motion.
That's why on Wednesday, when he left the building, he's like, "I feel pretty good. I feel better than I thought I would." After he had what was what we thought a little setback. So listing think probable if I'm not mistaken last Wednesday, and then he got downgraded on Thursday to questionable if I'm not mistaken because Thursday is when he woke up and the swelling was more noticeable and the range of motion had decreased.
So he was not available at practice today. I really don't have a really strong feeling on timeline because, like I said, everything early in the week last week was trending really positively until the setback on Wednesday. It sucks. It sucks for him. He's working like hell to try to get back. He's frustrated.
I even told my wife last Tuesday; I was like, "Man, it was awesome having 1, 2, 6 and 3 on the football field at the same time in practice." Like jersey numbers 1, 2, 6 and 3 at receiver, that looked like fun. And then the next day had a setback, so I might jinx this. But he had a little procedure this morning, not anything surgical, but just like a treatment that we think may be helpful.
But at this point, I think we've probably as soon as he started to kind of feel close to better, we've tried to expedite his return, maybe. I think now we're gonna probably try to make sure he gets fully right before trying to return. And so I kind of don't have a great answer for you, but I do think it's frustrating for him and for everybody because he wants to play and he also makes our team better.
On if Brown's knee was drained of fluid
That was a last week thing. Okay. Today wasn't a drain thing, but it was just a treatment that's something that is new that we haven't done that the medical staff thought maybe was something we should try that could be helpful.
On how Brown is handling criticism for not being able to play
"Yeah, that's a good question. I think it's hard sometimes to block out any criticism or noise, and you're not in control of it. I think he's handling it well, but I'd be lying if I said it doesn't get to guys sometimes. And I think I've tried to encourage him, like, "Hey, man, I'm for you. I've got your back. When you're ready and when it's right, let's go." If it's not right yet, let's be smart, tough, not dumb, tough.
And so I've tried to encourage him, and we believe in him, fully supporting having his back. I'm only one voice, though. But he's trying. That's the frustrating thing. I've talked with him, and want him to understand that I know how much he's given. He was the first guy in the training room on Sunday for wellness check to get treatment. It's not like he's not doing everything in his power to get back.
On squaring Brown emerging as a team leader before the season with the criticism he has faced
The guy loves football. He's a Florida Gator. He's a legacy. His dad is a Gator — there's history. He cares. Wearing the orange and blue means something to him. In our off-season program, when things weren't going great, kind of like they're not going great when you lose a game.
We were doing the gauntlet; he stood up and spoke and called some things out that need to be called out, that sometimes the coach you're waiting for who's going to call it out. He stepped up and did that and did enough through our offseason program for me that I took him to the media days deal because I felt like he had established himself as a vocal leader and a guy that works incredibly hard. He still works incredibly hard.
He's up there all the time in the training room giving a ton of effort to try to get back. And I hate it for him. I mean, we all do because he's invested so much in his craft. He's worked really hard, and you hate it because there was some light at the end of the tunnel of this thing last week. You felt like we were there, and then when you have this setback, it's like, daggum.
On if Brown and Duke Clark being out has hurt the offense's explosiveness
Yeah, those guys are explosive playmakers. I think Duke, in his own right, just like VB, has the ability to get the ball in his hand and go make plays. VB, some of his can be an extension of the run game, to be quite honest, with some screens, and he's also some of the intermediate stuff that he can do for you, the ball-in-hand things that he can do, just how do you get it to him in space.
We've all seen do on punt return. That's what he does on offense. It's like, all right, get the ball in space, see if one guy can tackle it. And usually, we have a pretty good advantage there. So him and Duke both being out does present challenges for how we can create explosive plays.
Duke did practice today. I didn't announce that Duke was available today. What will his availability be on snap count, pitch count? I feel confident he's going to play. I can't control if there's a setback in practice, but as of right now, he's on track to go Saturday, and he looks pretty good. So hopeful for him right now as things stand.
On if he can make an official statement on Brown's status
All right, here's the official VB3 statement. There's a camera right here. He wants to play. He's doing everything he can to play. He's pissed off he can't play, and he's doing everything in his power to play. It's a real injury that we thought we were on the other side of that he had a setback last week, and it sucks. I mean, it freaking sucks for him. It sucks for the team because he helps our team be better. He wants to play. He's doing everything in his power to play football. I don't know what else to say.
On strides he saw from Florida's defense
"I thought population of helmets to the football – when I met with the defense this morning and showed them some of the tape, several clips where there's eight, nine, 10 hats to football. That's when you know you're heading the right direction. We haven't arrived. We didn't play great either on defense. I showed them plenty of plays where we missed things, didn't do it the right way — technique, detail, assignment.
But I thought on the perimeter we're competing much better. We're not perfect, but I think you saw maybe on some of the screens on the perimeter, corner, safety, nickel, we triggered it and played a little bit more violent with our hands and defeated blocks and made tackles. There were several of those that were encouraging, and then down the field, I thought on some of the balls down the field, I thought we competed better.
So those are some of the things that really stood out to me that there's growth. We're executing at a little higher level. We're still not like a well-oiled machine. Kind of like I commented about how I have a lot of respect for how Oklahoma plays defensively. You can tell the cohesion and chemistry. There's still some times where we're maybe not quite where we need to be with all 11 being on the same page all the time really as quick as you'd like them to be. And that comes with time on task in the system.
Look, we've had enough games now that we should be better at it. But when you look at Georgia and Oklahoma, how they've got years built into the system, that one guy sees something and signals it to the entire defense, and the whole defense's got it. Like, "Whoa, that's pretty impressive." We're still maybe a little bit more delayed at times with getting things across the board set the way you'd like.
I do think certain guys have stepped up in their play, too. I think Bryce Thornton played pretty good last week. I think you felt the presence of Ty Jackson. He's been impactful. Emmanuel [Oyebadejo] had a couple really good plays in the game when we had them backed up. There's certain guys you're just feeling their presence. I think the corners have improved. I still think they got a long way to go to keep improving, but I felt improvement there just in their play style and their demeanor.
On the slot receiver position and freshman Justin Williams
You could (see him more), yeah. He played five snaps on offense. He played on special teams. I think you're going to see more on offense and more on special teams. He looks like he's got some juice. We got him the ball on the perimeter. He practiced today, looked really good.
I think Bailey — I'm hopeful he'll be available. It's surprised me just the way he's been able to find a way to show up on game day and play every Saturday. But J-Will, man, really glad he's on our football team. Good, young player. I think he has a bright future here.
On what Williams needs to do to play more
I just think early on it was execution within the offense, like understanding how to carry out your assignment. And sometimes when the defensive picture changes, what that may do to you within a route, but getting the ball in his hands and letting him go to work is something I think that comes naturally to him.
He had the muff punt early in the year, but he's really a good punt returner, and he'll grow in that. The one he muffed, he probably should have just fair caught it; he was trying to go make a play earlier in the year against Campbell.
But he's growing. We're going to play him more on offense than on special teams as we move forward. He's earning more by how he's practicing and how he's preparing. Got a lot of belief in what he's going to do here."
On other freshmen who could make an impact
That's a good question. Marquez Daniel: I don't know that you're going to see him a ton in game action, but he was a guy — the guys that have been maybe in scout team roles that I'm bringing over some now as the years gone — Marquez on offense has been one, Dylan Purter at times on defense — he's been a guy that's played on special teams all year, he's been one.
One guy that's not eligible to play because of his junior college transfer status. But Eli Owens is really doing a great job in his year in residence here right now. He can't play in games as of right now because even though you can transfer four-year to four-year and be immediately eligible, he had some academic restrictions as his transfer from junior college into here. But he's done a fantastic job.
Dez Green, I don't know that you're going to see him inserted in the O-line right now. But he's been kind of an arrow-up young player to speak of right now. Stive-Bentley (Keumajou-Yondui), obviously you've seen him a little bit. He's really a class of '27 guy that reclassed and showed up at the beginning of training camp. So he's really not even a '26 guy in your mind. He's really a guy that committed to us for next year. But we got in here early.
Those are some of the guys. There's probably a few more I'm missing. I don't know how much they're going to change our '26 team, but there's some guys that I see their trajectory for how they're going to help us in the future, and you can tell they've been really hard at work in the weight room, on scout team, and we're finding them some reps with the varsity bunch in practice because they're showing signs of life.
On if freshman cornerback CJ Bronaugh is available
He's kind of been up and down. He's back up right now. CJ's been up and down. He's up right now, but he's not been consistently available enough to really count on him to do a whole lot.
On the pivotal month of November
First off, with the games we have in front of us, you know the old adage, "You remember the games you play in November." These games are valuable. How you finish matters. And you look down this last stretch, we got three conference games and a rivalry game at the end. We need to finish strong to create some positive momentum as we go into the offseason, to the future, to recruiting, etc.
The '27 recruiting class is essentially buttoned up. There might be one or two things that could change there, but you're looking at the '28 class and you're really targeting the portal. And then two, like I told our team this morning about we have a lot to play for.
I'm not saying we're there yet, but if we find a way to just go 1-0 every week for the next four weeks, and you look up, who knows where you stand at that point in the chaos we're all in in college football right now. If you could find your way to 9-3 at the end, there's a lot of possibilities that can happen with what else is going on in the world.
What we have to do a better job of is just executing about what's right in front of us. But I want us to finish strong. It's funny you brought up Urban. A couple weeks ago, he hit me up in a text and said, "Hey, you get one of these next two, talking about Texas and Georgia, and then finish strong in November and life's pretty good."
I don't know if I'm fully there, but we have a lot left to play for in front of us. I just want us to move forward, grow as a team and then grow the program so we can have a future here that goes right. We're trending in the right direction and we're about to get this thing really started.
And there's been flashes of it this year, hadn't been consistent enough. I have championship expectations every day. We're not there yet, and that's frustrating as hell. But we're going to get there. We are. I'm very confident in that. And if I have to fight somebody on our team to get them to understand that, I will. Like, we're going to get there.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida's Jon Sumrall speaks on Georiga loss, looks ahead to Oklahoma
