The role of a college football head coach has changed significantly in recent years, with the transfer portal, NIL, and an evolving roster-building landscape adding new responsibilities to the position.
Even with general managers increasingly handling personnel decisions and players commanding compensation, the modern head coach must balance much more than what happens between the lines. Still, wins and losses remain a major part of how a coach’s overall performance is evaluated.
The Athletic has ranked every college football head coach across eight tiers, evaluating each coach based on his resume, resources, longevity, and sustained success. As Florida head coach Jon Sumrall prepares for his first season leading the Gators back to prominence, here’s where he landed in the latest tier list of FBS head coaches.
In his first year with the Gators, Sumrall lands in tier three: "consistency with upside." In The Athletic's tier list from the 2025 season, he was also in the third tier.
Placing the new skipper in the third tier puts him among coaches who have established themselves as successful program builders such as Matt Campbell, Mike Elko, Lincoln Riley and Kenny Dillingham.
The description fits Sumrall's coaching resume entering his first season in Gainesville. Before taking over at Florida, he built a strong track record at Tulane, where he went 20-8 over two seasons and made the College Football Playoff last season.
Prior to his Green Wave tenure, Sumrall was also a consistent winner at Troy, where he went 23-4 over two seasons and won the Sun Belt in 2023.
Sumrall is a proven winner; however, coaching the Gators will be his first test as a Power Four head coach. While the ceiling for the Gators under their new head coach is unknown, the resources and expectations give him a chance to prove whether his success at Troy and Tulane can translate to the highest level of college football.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Where Jon Sumrall lands in The Athletic’s latest FBS coach rankings