Sumrall Set to Make First Coordinator Hire with Florida Gators, per Report
GAINESVILLE, Fla.– Jon Sumrall appears to be ready to make his first coordinator hire with the Florida Gators.
Florida is expected to hire Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White in the same position, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz. White has spent the last seven seasons as the Wildcats’ defensive coordinator after a year as an assitant.
He coached outside linebackers all eight seasons at Kentucky and was Sumrall’s defensive coordinator in 2019 and 2020 as the now-Gators head coach took charge of the inside linebackers room.
Sumrall was Kentucky’s co-defensive coordinator with White in 2021 before taking the head coaching job at Troy in 2022.
At Kentucky, White led the Wildcats to seven consecutive top-45 defenses (2018-24) and four top-25 finishes (2018-19, 2021-22). Florida, meanwhile, has not had a top-50 defense in the 2020s with defensive coordinators Todd Grantham (2020-21), Patrick Toney (2022), Austin Armstrong (2023) and Ron Roberts (2024-25).
While Sumrall admitted he “haven’t studied what was done (at Florida) intimately” on the defensive side of the ball, he did give an idea of what he wanted the Gators’ identity to be with him as head coach.
“Defensively we will swarm, and we will attack,” Sumrall said. “We will play with great pursuit of the football and relentless effort. We’ll always be on the hunt because that’s what Gators do. We’re going to make our opponents uncomfortable. I want to be the most feared defense in the country.”
