‘I’ve been really impressed with Florida’ — Nick Saban makes a bold statement about Jon Sumrall’s Gators
Going into their SEC opener against the Auburn Tigers on Saturday night, Nick Saban was clear about his thoughts on the Florida Gators.
When Nick Saban says something about a college football team, you take a second to listen. He is arguably the best coach in the sport’s history, after all.
On Friday, Saban made one of his regular appearances on The Pat McAfee Show, and he praised Jon Sumrall‘s Florida Gators.
“Well, I’ve been really impressed with Florida. I mean, they can run the ball, Aaron [Philo] has played really well at quarterback for them. They got some good receivers,” said Saban.
Nick Saban believes in the Florida Gators
I don’t blame Saban for being impressed with the Gators. They have been really good over the first two games, even if they were against Florida Atlantic and Campbell. The job Sumrall has done hasn’t gone unnoticed by Saban, even if he got somewhat of a head start over his contemporary on Saturday, Auburn Tigers head coach Alex Golesh.
“I think John Summerall probably inherited a little bit of rostering added to it at Florida in terms of the kind of defense they can play. So I think Florida is a little bit further along as a team, just based on the first two weeks of the season. I think Alex is going to do a really good job at Auburn,” said Saban.
The Gators do have a little bit of an advantage with their roster. Even though Billy Napier didn’t win in Gainesville, he assembled a lot of talent, a good amount of which Sumrall was able to retain. The top player they kept on the defensive side of the ball is JACK linebacker Jayden Woods, and they will have quite the challenge on their hands in Tigers quarterback Byrum Brown.
“Byron Brown is a really good quarterback. Now he killed Florida last year, and Florida had a good defense, and he ran all over him, and he was the difference in the game, and maybe the best player,” said Saban. “I think that Florida’s defense better play with a lot of discipline in terms of how they control this guy in the pocket, and how they don’t give up explosive plays because his ability to scramble.”
It’s great to see Saban believe in these Gators, but they still have to prove that they are ready to take on the SEC. Saturday night will do a lot for their stock either way.
