Florida HC Jon Sumrall vows to ‘wake this beast up’ this season

The Florida Gators have a historic football program that has struggled immensely in recent years. New head coach Jon Sumrall is well aware of that fact.

Following the team’s annual spring game this weekend, Sumrall made it clear that the goal is to win as soon as possible.

“Championships are the standard and expectation. We’ve got to get it back there. We’ve got to wake this beast up,” he said. “It’s time we wake this thing up. This is a sleeping giant. I’m telling you right now: it ain’t a matter of if we’re going to win here. It’s how fast we’re going to win. It’s coming. This winning thing, it’s coming.”

The Gators hired Sumrall in November after finishing with a 4-8 record on the season and firing Billy Napier.

The 43-year-old coached the Troy Trojans to two straight conference championship appearances before doing the same with the Tulane Green Wave the last two seasons.

Sumrall said he fully believes in his team, but that they will need to train hard in the weight room this summer.

“There’s a lot of guys in that room that I think can play winning football. Those guys have to have a freaking great summer or we got no chance. There’s gotta be a lot of growth that continues to happen — and they will.”

The standards for the Gators have always been high, and Sumrall looks poised to reach those standards in his debut season.

James Parker contributed to this story.