Florida's Jon Sumrall, Auburn's Alex Golesh fanning rivalry flames

Jon Sumrall, head coach of the Florida Gators, has significant ties to the Auburn Tigers.

For one, the Tigers considered hiring him this past offseason. He wound up in Gainesville, and the Tigers went with Alex Golesh, but there's a world in which Sumrall could be leading 2-0 Auburn this weekend against 2-0 Florida at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

For some in his family, that would have been a dream come true. His wife, Ginny Sumrall, is an Auburn grad. 

They both grew up in Huntsville, Alabama, and while football took Sumrall elsewhere in the SEC to be a linebacker for the Kentucky Wildcats, Ginny went three or so hours down south to be a Tiger.

Presumably, she cheered a lot of Auburn on the football field over the years, as did members of her family.

Now that he's the head coach of the Gators, though, Jon doesn't want to hear about those ties to The Plains.

He was asked on Monday if there were any members of his extended family who would be rooting for Auburn this weekend.

"If I do, they're not family to me," was Sumrall's curt response. "Yeah, there are ties, but Florida pays my mortgage, you know? Any family that is going against us... they ain't my family. I don't care what their last name is."