Just read the CBS Sports piece on Sumrall's mindset and man, that's exactly what this program needed. A coach who walks in and says "good" instead of panicking about the roster turnover. The Gators lost 14 starters from last year's 7-5 team, including their entire secondary and both tackles. Most first-year coaches would be begging for patience. Sumrall is out here stacking a top-15 recruiting class while fighting through a QB battle that nobody saw coming when Lagway hit the portal.
The schedule doesn't do Florida any favors either. Per SP+, the Gators face four teams that finished 2025 in the top 20: Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, and Miami. That's brutal for a program installing a new system on both sides of the ball. But here's the thing - Sumrall's defenses at Troy and Tulane consistently ranked top 30 in havoc rate despite facing better athletes. The transfer portal haul has been quietly solid too, especially along the defensive line where Florida ranked 87th in yards per carry allowed.
People keep looking at the 2026 schedule and writing Florida off at 7-5 again. I'm not buying it. The SEC East is gone, the schedule is what it is, but Sumrall has already flipped the roster composition toward bigger bodies and faster linebackers. The QB battle will sort itself out by August. What matters is whether the culture change sticks. The "good" mindset stuff sounds like coachspeak until you see it translate to third-down defense. Florida ranked 112th in third-down conversion rate last season. That's the real number to watch this fall.