What is this?

As the Sumrall era begins, I updated my historical graph of Gator football records to include the final summary of Napier’s tenure as head coach. This graph is basically a quick reference to the two aspects of being a Gator fan that are most important to me: winning a lot of games, and winning them big.

• For the first piece, it’s pretty simple. Winning Percentage is a good proxy for how well the team is doing overall. This is tracked by the blue line on the chart. However, I came of age in the 80s and 90s and am happiest when the Gators are blowing teams out.
• For this reason, I also track Average Margin of Victory (AMoV) via the orange bars, which is simply [(Pts Scored - Pts Allowed)/# of games]. To me, this helps capture the fact that, again, as an unapologetically spoiled Gator fan, am much happier winning a laugher than a close, low-scoring slog.

For me, the combination of these two numbers roughly addresses the biggest on-field aspects of how happy I am as a Gator fan. More wins and more big wins are best. I think this is a pretty common sentiment but am curious as to what others think.

 What’s new?

This year, I’ve added totals for each coach’s full tenure at the bottom of the chart to make comparison easier (I grouped games coached by an interim post-firing, such as Zook-->Strong or Napier-->Gonzales, under the record of the original/fired HC). A few items that caught my eye were:

• Charley Pell engineered a truly incredible turnaround and his firing over what now looks like piddly NCAA bullshit set the program back a decade at least. The fact that UF doesn’t claim the 1984 national title really grinds my gears.
• There is really nothing like the sustained excellence that Spurrier brought to UF football, both as a player and a coach. The man is a saint for a reason.
• The question of “what if Dan Mullen didn’t go crazy because of COVID” combined with the timing of the 12-team playoff will always be intriguing. I know he quit on the team and definitely deserved to be fired, but he really had something going there before all that.
• With the full benefit of hindsight, the Napier years were just absolute misery, with his best season still pretty pathetic in historical context.

 What’s next?

I’ve been wondering about how to better differentiate between the best and/or worst years. Something like a Satisfaction Index that would combine the above two numbers with other factors (e.g., Heisman trophy winners, SEC/National Championships, wins over rivals, upset wins or losses, some kind of statistical proxy for defensive performance, etc.) to try and zero in on what makes the most enjoyable season as a Gator fan.

How would you approach this question and what are the biggest factors for you?

Both are 5 stars in the 27 and 28 class. This could be huge for the program. Colton’s brother is the 5 star IOL committed to us for 27.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/49782961/2026-college-football-simulations-cfp-conference-title-odds-predictions

Florida's 2026 roster includes 52 newcomers and 61 returning players. Ahead of kickoff, this series will break down the newcomers, returners and coaching staff, with articles published every Tuesday and Thursday leading up to the season:

• Newcomers: Special Teams
• Newcomers: Defensive Freshmen
• Newcomers: Offensive Freshmen
• Newcomers: Defensive Transfers
• Newcomers: Offensive Transfers
• Returners: Specialists
• Returners: Defensive Front Seven
• Returners: Defensive Secondary
• Returners: Offensive Line
• Returners: Offensive Skill Positions
• Coaching Staff

Here we are game week and we are at the final post of this journey recapping the 2026 Florida Gators.

Florida enters the 2026 season with Jon Sumrall as its new head coach and a largely rebuilt coaching staff.

The staff draws heavily from three places. Several assistants followed Sumrall from Tulane, defensive coordinator Brad White brought connections from Kentucky, and offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner reunited with coaches he worked with at Georgia Tech.

Defensive line coach Gerald Chatman is the lone on-field assistant retained from Florida's previous staff, while former Gators Phil Trautwein and Bam Hardmon return to coach at their alma mater.

Here is a closer look at Florida's 2026 coaching staff.

Head Coach

Jon Sumrall — Head Coach

Jon Sumrall takes over at Florida after four seasons as a head coach at Troy and Tulane.

Sumrall went 23-4 with consecutive Sun Belt championships at Troy in 2022 and 2023 before moving to Tulane. In two seasons there, he went 20-8, reached the American Conference Championship Game both years and led the Green Wave to the College Football Playoff in 2025.

He enters Florida with a 43-12 career record and has reached a conference championship game in each of his four seasons as a head coach.

Sumrall played linebacker at Kentucky from 2002-04 and later returned to the program as an assistant from 2019-21, where he worked alongside Florida defensive coordinator Brad White.

Coordinators

Buster Faulkner — Offensive Coordinator

Buster Faulkner joins Florida after three seasons as Georgia Tech's offensive coordinator.

Across those three seasons, Georgia Tech averaged 437.7 yards of total offense and 197.8 rushing yards per game, ranking second and first in the ACC, respectively. The Yellow Jackets also averaged 31.0 points per game during that span.

Faulkner was named the 2025 FootballScoop Offensive Coordinator of the Year and brings 14 seasons of experience as an offensive coordinator.

Several Georgia Tech players followed him to Florida, including quarterback Aaron Philo, receiver Bailey Stockton, tight end Luke Harpring and offensive lineman Harrison Moore.

Brad White — Defensive Coordinator

Brad White joins Florida after eight seasons at Kentucky, including seven as defensive coordinator.

From 2018 through 2025, Kentucky allowed an average of 22.1 points and 344.1 yards per game, both top-20 marks nationally over that span.

White coached 14 Kentucky defenders who were selected in the NFL Draft, including six taken in the first two rounds.

He previously spent six seasons on the Indianapolis Colts' staff. White played linebacker at Wake Forest, where he was a three-year starter and finished his career with 227 tackles.

Johnathan Galante — Special Teams Coordinator

Johnathan Galante follows Sumrall from Tulane, where he coordinated special teams in 2025.

Tulane ranked among the nation's better special teams units during the season, and Galante was nominated for the Broyles Award.

Kicker Patrick Durkin was named American Conference Special Teams Player of the Year, while punter Alec Clark earned First Team All-Conference honors. Both transferred to Florida for the 2026 season.

Offensive Staff

Joe Craddock — Quarterbacks

Joe Craddock follows Sumrall to Florida after serving as his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at both Troy and Tulane.

Across Sumrall's four seasons at those programs, Craddock's starting quarterbacks combined for 77 touchdown passes against 30 interceptions.

Craddock has nine years of FBS experience as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

He played quarterback at Middle Tennessee from 2004-08.

Chris Foster — Running Backs

Chris Foster joins Florida after coaching running backs at Duke in 2025.

Freshman Nate Sheppard rushed for 962 yards and 10 touchdowns while averaging 5.4 yards per carry under Foster, earning Second Team All-ACC honors.

Duke also won the ACC championship in Foster's lone season with the program.

He previously coached at Northwestern, East Carolina, Georgia Southern and Appalachian State.

Marcus Davis — Outside Wide Receivers

Marcus Davis joins Florida after three seasons coaching wide receivers at Auburn.

In 2025, Auburn had three receivers finish with at least 25 catches, 450 receiving yards and two touchdowns. The group included Eric Singleton Jr., who led the Tigers with 58 receptions before transferring to Florida.

Davis played receiver at Auburn from 2013-16 and served as a team captain during his senior season.

Trent McKnight — Passing Game Coordinator / Inside Wide Receivers

Trent McKnight joins Florida after two seasons coaching wide receivers at Georgia Tech.

In 2025, Georgia Tech finished 9-3 and climbed as high as No. 7 in the AP poll. Two Yellow Jackets receivers finished among the ACC's top 10 in Pro Football Focus receiving grade.

McKnight reunites with offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner after working alongside him at Georgia Tech.

Evan McKissack — Tight Ends

Evan McKissack follows Sumrall from Tulane, where he served as co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach.

Tulane allowed only 10 sacks during the 2025 regular season and ranked among the national leaders in fewest tackles for loss allowed.

McKissack previously coached tight ends at Troy. He also played at Troy, developing from a walk-on into the starting center and earning All-Sun Belt honors as a senior.

Phil Trautwein — Offensive Line

Phil Trautwein returns to Florida after six seasons as Penn State's offensive line coach.

Seven Penn State offensive linemen were selected in the NFL Draft during his tenure. Across his coaching career, Trautwein has coached 12 draft picks, including four first-round selections, and 35 all-conference offensive linemen.

Trautwein played left tackle at Florida from 2004-08. He was a two-time All-SEC selection, two-time team captain and member of the Gators' 2006 and 2008 national championship teams.

Defensive Staff

Gerald Chatman — Assistant Head Coach / Defensive Line

Gerald Chatman is the lone on-field assistant retained from Florida's previous coaching staff and enters his third season with the Gators.

Florida ranked 11th nationally in sacks per game in 2024 and finished 13th in turnovers gained. The defense increased its sack total by 17 and its tackles for loss by 28 from the previous season.

Sumrall added assistant head coach to Chatman's defensive line responsibilities for 2026.

Chris Collins — Safeties

Chris Collins joins Florida after five seasons at Kentucky, where he coached defensive backs and served as co-defensive coordinator.

Kentucky recorded double-digit interceptions in each of Collins' final four seasons, including 12 in 2025.

The Wildcats also produced three consecutive NFL Draft picks in the secondary during his tenure, including 2025 first-round selection Maxwell Hairston.

Collins reunites with defensive coordinator Brad White after the two worked together at Kentucky.

Greg Gasparato — Linebackers

Greg Gasparato follows Sumrall from Tulane, where he spent two seasons as defensive coordinator and safeties coach.

Tulane's defenses ranked second in the American Conference in yards allowed per game over those two seasons and recorded 69 sacks.

Gasparato also served as Sumrall's defensive coordinator at Troy in 2023, when the Trojans won the Sun Belt championship.

He played safety at Wofford from 2005-08 and was part of the Terriers' 2007 Southern Conference championship team.

Bam Hardmon — Outside Linebackers

Bam Hardmon returns to his alma mater after spending the previous two seasons as Tulane's run game coordinator and outside linebackers coach.

Before Tulane, Hardmon spent nine seasons at Troy, including four seasons on Sumrall's staff. He coached edge rusher Javon Solomon, who led the FBS with 16 sacks in 2023 before being selected in the fifth round of the NFL Draft.

Hardmon played linebacker at Florida and was a team captain and Second Team All-SEC selection in 2002.

Brandon Harris — Cornerbacks

Brandon Harris joins Florida after coaching defensive backs at UCF in 2025.

The Knights allowed 185.1 passing yards per game, ranking among the top 25 nationally, and finished third in the Big 12 in passing defense and yards allowed per completion.

Harris played cornerback at Miami from 2008-10, earning First Team All-ACC honors and twice becoming a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award. He was selected in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft and played four seasons in the NFL.

Football Performance

Rusty Whitt — Director of Football Performance

Rusty Whitt follows Sumrall to Florida after working with him at Troy and Tulane.

Whitt served in the U.S. Army from 2003-09 as a Special Forces Communication Sergeant with the 10th Special Forces Group, including deployments to Iraq. His decorations include the Combat Infantryman Badge and an Army Commendation Medal with Valor.

Whitt has three decades of strength and conditioning experience, including stops at Sam Houston State, Louisiana, Texas Tech, Troy and Tulane. He also played college football at Abilene Christian.

I am more of a writer than a football stats nerd so if something is obviously wrong, please just reply with the correct info instead of insulting me. Thanks!

We are attending the Gators vs the Owls game at 7:45pm

I purchased a booster parking pass on Stubhub for Newell parking garage.

I was hoping to setup a tailgate for 10-12 people. Can I setup in the garage itself? Would prefer to be out of the sun.

Do I need to get there right when the garage opens at 8am? It's a long time to wait from 8am to the game start time.

Or is better to just park there and bring a tent and tailgate outside the garage?

Originally posted by Nick de la Torre on X (Twitter)

New season, but one thing remains the same: good quality audio at a normal volume is still beyond the reach of the UAA. You'll need to crank up your volume.

Gators Round Table Discussion with Steve Spurrier, Chris Doering and Shane Matthews

Living in enemy territory is rough.

Does anyone know of a Gators backer group in Tallahassee, where I could go to watch the games with some like minded folks?

Well, it's Monday. Again.

Reminder of subreddit rules

Self promotion of your own content (videos, podcasts, blogs) is welcome.

What do you think the chances we land 6'6 2028 5* Colton Hiller to the basketball squad? I would like to think with his brother already committed to the football team we have a legitimate shot at getting him? Thoughts?

As a junior he averaged:

23.7 ppg

6.6 rpg

3.2 assists

3.1 steals

And got eliminated from the playoffs before the season even actually started lol

I am still not confident in how our season will go but this has brought some football joy that I have t felt in years

Does anybody know what section the band is in? I haven’t got tickets yet, but I typically like to be close to the band.

You've slept on it. Pour some coffee and have a seat. Let's talk about the week's game(s).

Josh Pete speaker series episode from five months ago with Jon Sumrall

Let's all cement some predictions. So we can point and laugh at each other. And so that some of us can feel like Nostradamus for at least a week.

Here's my prediction

4-0

Florida wins close games against Auburn and Ole Miss. Both in a somewhat fortunate fashion.

The narrative gets blown out of proportion "Florida is going to win the National title" type threads will pop up. With the moderates sounding the "hold up man we haven't actually won anything yet" alarm.

One thing for sure. The most blatantly obvious fact will be "coaching was a problem all along, and now it is not".

Yep that's my optimism for the day. What do you predict?

Tips for avoiding getting scammed on tickets: https://floridagators.com/sports/2024/7/30/counterfeit-tickets

Anyone have any tips as to parking so I don't have to push a long distance, we plan on tailgaiting a bit so i'm just trying to plan in advance where I can park as I have a ramp van & need adequate space to deploy my ramp and get out. As far as seating in the stadium - I contacted the ticket office & they advised me to go to the box office 90 minutes before gametime to have my tickets switched to ADA wheelchair accessible seating. Does anyone know where in the stadium those sections are & how the view is? This is my first ever SEC game i'm ever going to so I want to make sure its special.

Thanks in advance!