Calling it now - Florida finishes top 3 in the SEC in total defense by November. The $11.2M assistant pool is getting all the headlines but nobody is connecting the dots on what that actually buys you in this conference. That's top-10 nationally in staff spending and it shows Sumrall understands exactly what it takes to compete in this league right now. Georgia has been outspending everyone on assistants for years and it showed on the field. Florida just leveled the playing field overnight.
The SEC is still the best conference in America and the gap is widening not shrinking. People want to talk about Oregon's recruiting class or Indiana's title run but look at the depth of coaching talent across this league. Texas and Georgia are both paying their staffs over $10M now too. The arms race is real and Florida just proved they're not sitting on the sidelines anymore. Stricklin raving about Sumrall's character is nice but the checkbook is what actually changes the trajectory of this program.
Mark my words - by the time October rolls around people are going to look back at this $11.2M number as the moment Florida stopped being a sleeping giant and started being an actual threat in the SEC. The Gators finished 11th in the SEC in passer rating last season and that gets fixed when you pay for elite position coaches instead of hoping for development miracles. The rest of the East should be nervous.