Jon Sumrall gets biggest win of his Florida Gators tenure, and it could catapult them to the College Football Playoff

After a lot of speculation and stress, the Florida Gators have re-signed running back Jadan Baugh for the 2026 season.

Tyler Forness — NFL & College Football News Writer
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Nov 29, 2025; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Florida Gators running back Jadan Baugh (13) celebrates his touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Florida State Seminoles at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images

Florida Gators head coach Jon Sumrall has been on the job for a month and just finalized the biggest move of his tenure. On Tuesday, the Gators re-signed running back Jadan Baugh for the 2026 season.

This is the Gators’ biggest win of the offseason. They found a way to keep wide receiver Dallas Wilson and wide receiver Vernell Brown III, two of their top-five players to retain this offseason. They are losing edge rusher Jayden Woods and quarterback DJ Lagway to the transfer portal, but Baugh was, without question, the top player the Gators needed to retain.

Florida Gators re-sign running back Jadan Baugh

There were concerns about the Gators losing Baugh this offseason, and they began with the hiring of Sumrall. It wasn’t that it was a bad hire or that Baugh didn’t like him; rather, a new running backs coach was coming in. Baugh had built a strong relationship with Jabbar Juluke, who was hired at the University of Texas for the same position.

The prevailing view was that when Juluke joined the Texas Longhorns, Baugh could follow him to Austin. There were rumors he would do just that with some massive NIL money attached to the offer. Sumrall took offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner and running backs coach Chris Foster to visit Baugh in his home, and that was a big factor in his return to the Gators.

Jadan Baugh is already a superstar

Baugh’s skill set is everything you could want in a running back. He has ample size, burst, and grown-man power to attack all three levels of the defense. The top speed isn’t quite there, but he can still break explosive runs.

His performance against the Florida State Seminoles was legendary. He ran for an underclassman school record 266 yards and two touchdowns on 37 carries. He dominated every aspect of the game and showed why the Gators needed to make him a major priority ahead of next season.

This is undoubtedly the biggest move this offseason for the Gators, and a potential playoff run is within their grasp.

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