Gators HC Jon Sumrall makes first big hire, and it brings continuity that could prove to be invaluable early on

Jon Sumrall leans on continuity for his first coaching hire, and it could prove to be a great decision.

Tyler Forness — NFL & College Football News Writer
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Brad White, Kentucky defensive coordinator.
Clare Grant / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Florida Gators made their hire of head coach Jon Sumrall official on Sunday afternoon, and it didn’t take him long to make his first hire to his coaching staff. The Gators are expected to hire Kentucky Wildcats defensive coordinator Brad White to the same position.

It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that Sumrall went to Kentucky for his first hire, especially since Mark Stoops was just fired as the head coach on Monday.

Sumrall leans on continuity to run his defense

One of the first things Sumrall wanted to accomplish was hiring a good staff. White is the first hire in that department, as general manager Dave Caldwell wasn’t directly a Sumrall hire, as he won’t be directly reporting to the head coach. White, however, will be doing so.

White played linebacker in college with one year at Georgia in 2000, then spent the next four seasons at Wake Forest. He was with Kentucky for eight seasons, including being the defensive coordinator from 2019-2025. White coached with Sumrall for three years, including as co-defensive coordinators in 2021.

This past season, the Wildcats struggled, which is why Stoops ended up being fired. They had an average defense last season, ranking 60th in EPA/play. Overall, they were average against the pass, but above average against the run, including 35th in EPA/rush. Stopping the run is something the Gators did relatively well last season on a per-play basis, but it got worse as the game went on, because teams would pound the rock late in the game when they had the lead.

Where White can help the most is in success rate. The Gators were brutal, especially against the pass, where they were 120th in the nation. Having better players in Gainesville is going to help quite a bit.

One thing that’s important early on is to have coaches you can trust. Someone who’s done a good job at Kentucky with the defense, who you know really well, eliminates a variable early on. How well he can recruit will make a big difference as well, because they need to start landing a lot more high-profile recruits.

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