Florida knew when to back out of its negotiating battle with Lane Kiffin, but the damage was already done. Their relentless pursuit for the 'perfect' candidate left them with scraps as they tried to once again rebuild a national contender in Gainesville. The incumbent to Billy Napier is essentially his clone in Jon Sumrall at Tulane. Another G5 coach that had quick success with experience as an assistant in the SEC, but not necessarily ready for the big kids table.
UPDATE: A source tells us that #USC coach Lincoln Riley’s representatives attempted to get him involved in the #Gators search multiple times but were turned away. https://t.co/WUXgHg8dAz pic.twitter.com/IqTipTalj0
— The Four Sportsmen (@FourSportsmenHQ) November 29, 2025
The Gators reportedly kicked Lincoln Riley to the curb after his camp tried to get Florida to consider him. So the fact that Florida settled for another G5 coach to rebuild this program, it just goes to show how ill-prepared Scott Stricklin is for yet another rebuilding phase. This program went the successful G5 coach route and it went belly up. Now they’re destined for deja vu.
Florida landing on Jon Sumrall could quickly backfire
Napier had a less-than-satisfactory tenure with Florida and it’s not looking good for his replacement who comes with nearly identical accolades. Florida is supposed to be looking to improve, not stay stagnant. They needed a big splash hire. They spent most of the time during their coaching surge trying to poach Lane Kiffin to no avail.
They needed a big name because this program isn’t your typical rebuild job. Florida has the resources and NIL funds to build the best roster in college football. They arguably had the best young core of any team in college football, they just had a miserable coaching staff running it. The defense was fine, it was the offense that was abysmal.
So to not push harder for Kiffin or seriously pursue Lincoln Riley is a disservice by Stricklin and the hiring firm in charge of finding their new coach. Florida is learning the hard way that maybe they shouldn’t have hired a coach that doesn’t have the offensive acumen like Kiffin or Riley. They needed a coach that was going to inject life in this offense. Instead they hired a coach that, on the surface, doesn’t look like the best option considering the state of this team.
Scott Stricklin is turning Florida into what Scott Woodward turned LSU into
The Brian Kelly era in LSU was as disappointing as anybody could have predicted. At Notre Dame, Kelly essentially didn’t even sniff a national title. While he did play for one, he got whooped by Alabama in the title game and then reached the College Football Playoff one more time, yet he was brought on to do something he had never done in his career.
Florida is putting that same pressure on Sumrall and that’s why Stricklin is walking a fine line as he made his decision who the best replacement is. It shows just how tone deaf he is with the team and what they need to actually be competitive in the SEC again. Stricklin is taking Florida down the same path as LSU because as good of a coach as Sumrall is, he’s being set up to fail.
Maybe he turns Florida into a national contender. But Stricklin’s track record isn’t strong when it comes to hiring football coaches. While Dan Mullen wasn’t the worst hire, he ultimately got fired, despite having the third-highest win percentage among coaches with at least 40 games coached. The Napier hire was obviously a dumpster fire as well. There’s no confidence that Sumrall will be the right person either, based on Stricklin’s history.
He could have gone the smart route, brought in a proven coach and actually turned things around. Instead, he took the cheap route, made an identical hire to the coach he fired and put Florida in a dangerous position to get back to the top of the SEC.