Jon Sumrall breaks down Orange and Blue Game, post-spring plan

Jon Sumrall praised the progress made by the Florida football team over the spring game, but he says the team still has plenty of work to do to get where it needs to be in the fall.

The Gators' head coach highlighted growth on both sides of the ball following the Orange and Blue Game, pointing to improved defensive physicality and flashes from key playmakers on both sides of the ball. While the quarterbacks showed promise, Sumrall maintained that nothing is settled as Florida looks to figure out several position battles.

He outlined a post-spring plan and encouraged his players to hold themselves accountable during the break. Sumrall also reinforced the program’s long-term vision, expressing confidence that Florida is building toward a return to championship standards.

Jon Sumrall's opening statement

"I thought the pace was good. Defense started fast, offense finished the half strong. Certain guys flashed. D.J. Coleman’s interception was a really nice play. A couple of interceptions were tips, not completely on the quarterback. One was a little bit behind the receiver, so the location could’ve been better.

"I think we got out of it fairly healthy. McLeod didn’t play the entire time. He started the game and had a little boo-boo. It wasn't anything major or long-term. I think everybody else was pretty clean. Good work.

The model we did, it wasn’t going to end three to nothing. There were going to be points on every drive, whether the defense or offense got them. I wanted it to be competitive, and we did it that way, too, so maybe you could see different O-line combinations.

"I wanted to see Bryce Lovett play some tackle and guard. I wanted to see Eagan Boyer play left and right tackle. Move certain guys around. Same thing in the secondary. I wanted to see Cormani (McClain) with the ones and twos and see how he'd respond. Same thing with Ben Hanks and all those guys. We’re just moving a lot of pieces around, in the secondary and the O-line, that’s the reason for the format."I think we got a lot better this spring. We have a long way to go, but I’m pleased with the work we got today. Great turnout. Grateful for our fans. Awesome energy in the stadium. I don't know who went to church last night and prayed for the weather, but thank you for that. It was a beautiful day for football."

Jon Sumrall on quarterback play and evaluation

"Quarterback, going back and I've said this before, when you get the whole picture of the offense around them settled, it makes it easier to play quarterback. So, right now, with the line being in such flux, moving a lot of guys around, there's not as much continuity. But both guys have done some good things. I think that room has done good things as a whole.

"I’ll sit down with all of those guys on Monday and have a transparent conversation about, 'Hey, after 15 practices, this is where we are.' I'll talk to them about, 'Hey, if we had to play a game next week, this is probably what it would look like.' I won’t make an announcement, because we don't play a game next week.

"But I want them to know, after we wrap up, I think our players have earned and deserve honest conversations. So, I'll meet with 111 this week and talk through where you were, where you are and where we need to go next to continue and grow and develop. Nothing’s decided yet."I do think sometimes we can alost make too much about the quarterback deal. It's like, hey, we've got to figure out who our O-line is, which tight ends can do what, which backs are certain types of runners. But the quarterbacks have done some good things."

Sumrall on interest in quarterbacks

"I completely understand the interest. I’m interested in it, but I'm interested in that and 1,000 other things. I think too often the story is the quarterback, the quarterback, the quarterback. But I’m pretty damn worried about who the right tackle is, who the left tackle is. Those decisions are just as important because they protect and support the quarterback."

Jon Sumrall on Aaron’s interceptions

"One was a little behind and got tipped. The other was a great play (by the defense). We want him to be a little bit, not dangerous, but we want him to take shots. You can't turn the ball over and expect to win, but at the same time, you can't play passive. He's protected the football pretty well throughout the spring. Today was maybe not what the norm has been. He’s operated at a high level overall this spring. All the guys have. He’ll be fine."

Jon Sumrall on post-spring message

"We break the year into four phases. Phase two is spring ball. We're done. Now we enter a discretionary period, where lifting is more on their own for a couple of weeks. I told them, 'Guys, I'm going to learn a lot about this football team over the next couple of weeks that are discretionary — how you work, how you come back, what shape you're ion when we return to organized team activity.'

"We've had some massive gains. Jake Sankal, he's our nutritionist, but he's also our assistant strength coach. It's a really unique role. Jake does a phenomenal job. Jake has met with our staff. We’ve Dexa-scanned every player on our roster. All of them but three have had muscle gain and fat loss. On the entire roster, out of 111 players, 108 have had muscle gain and fat loss. A couple of guys that didn't, and they're going to hear about it.

"It's a considerable change to their bodies. They can’t come back in a couple of weeks and let that slip. I’ll learn a lot about who we are then. Really, as you go through spring, you're trying to figure out what things certain guys do well, install the systems and communications things you do — offensively, defensively and kicking game.

"The thing I've voiced where this is different for me in my third head coaching job, post-spring, I don't get to go alright, we've had 15 practices. What areas am I still not comfortable, and go fix it. I would love to go out and have a little free agency period and fix a couple more spots than we've got fixed right now. That's not really available to you.

"My first year at Troy, I had three NFL players on defense. Two of them were FCS move-up guys. They're playing in the NFL right now. I don't have that luxury this go-round, so we just have to continute to develop the guys we've got. Nobody is going to be annointed the starter on Monday. They're all going to get told kind of, hey, here's where we are, and if you like that, here's what you need to do to continue to build upon it. If you don't like where you are, here's what you need to do to change that.

"We'll enter into the summer part of workouts when they return for classes in May, and we'll do some OTAs and organized team activities and some simulated type practice things that we're allowed to do now that we get a couple hours of football a week. But a long way to go.

Jon Sumrall on Micah Mays

"Yeah. He's flashed, in particular, making plays down the field or getting the ball in hand-type plays when he's on the move. As a route runner, he's been explosive. He tracks it well. He catches it clean. I've challenged him to play with a little bit more edge and physicality. Like, that's been the biggest challenge I've put on him, is like, hey, it's not okay to just be like a guy that just catches the football. You got to do the dirty work, too. And so he's grown in that area. He's got to continue to grow, but really excited about having him on this roster.

"I said this for him and Bailey to both come when there's a lot of known good players in that room. I got respect for their confidence in themselves to come in and compete, not back down from the competition."

On transfers performing well, validation in portal action

"You know, I think the biggest thing when you have 50 new players, 30 transfers, I believe, 20 high school. Thirty transfers, you're not going to go sign 30 starters. I'd love to, but like that's just not realistic. Certain guys have certain roles, and what you want to see is, as we shift to the summer and into the season, everybody has to know their role, embrace their role and be a star in their role. And if you do that, your role grows.

So it is nice to see certain transfer guys make plays and elevate and validate kind of what we thought. Certain guys flahsed. Certain guys have to do more."

Jon Sumrall on defense

I thought in particular that early you felt the line of scrimmage. You felt the physicality. We got good length and size there. I think the D line is a spot where I was maybe uncertain coming in the spring. I feel more confident in leaving the spring. I'm excited about that group. It's nice having Kam James back. He's a good player.

"I mean, the depth right now. When you look end, you've got Kam James, you've got Emmanuel, LJ McCray. I'm like, alright, we've got a chance over there. You look at the interior. You talk about Bett, Mbatchou, some of those guys. Kalu is pretty good. He's flashed at times. There are a lot of guys in that room that I think can play winning football.

"Jeremiah McCloud's had really flashy spring at times. Like last week's scrimmage, he was sort of the D-line that flashed. I mean, some, some folks sure got wind of that. So that group is what's really giving me hope.

"I do think that the secondary outside of the two-minute window today played good. I thought we really set on some routes well, anticipated playing the sticks on some situations. Late, Buster gave them some double moves and kind of burned them. But I thought all in all there was growth on that side of the football and we were probably, maybe a little bit ahead of where I thought we'd be, holistically on defense, and the inside linebacker room I like."

On the offensive line

"Certain guys have individual things they have to work on. I could go through the whole list, but like, it may be one guy needs to add weight and strength, and maybe one guy needs to continue to work on his body comp and maybe lose weight. There are some guys who may be lower body mobility, like ankle stiffness, we got to kind of work through. Some guys that may be understanding, hey, I need to be a guard and a tackle, and get confident in that.

"So, it's how do you get each guy built up to be the best they can be? So then we figure out, okay, here's the best five, and how do we put them together? And so I still think that's where I'm grateful for Rusty (Whitt). Rusty does a lot of things well. I think what he does best is build linemen, and we need that. We need a lineman builder, which is what Whitt's all about. Those guys have to have a freaking great summer, or we've got no chance. Like, no chance.

"I think we have a chance. So, we got guys in that room that can do it. But there's got to be a lot of growth. It continues to happen, and it will. I mean, it's going to happen. But we're nowhere near settled in that room."

Jon Sumrall on surprise performances in O&B Game

"Everybody's flash at some point in the spring. I do think you look at Micah's box score, it's like, all right, well, he had a good day. So I think that was neat to see him step up in that moment and play really well. I think all the backs have made some strides. I think you felt the whole running back room. I think Kanye Clark has continued to feel. Myles Johnson, he's continued to make strides through the spring, and I thought he showed up a decent amount today.

"It's a team full of guys where certain guys have had their moments in the stadium so far. But we need everybody to be clicking on all cylinders when we come here."

On new era of Florida football

"Well, you started with the history and pageantry. I've told the stories about my scars from being in the stadium. I've got a couple etched in me. This is a special place. You can tell when you pull over for the Gator Walk today and there's a decent number of people here at nine in the morning for a noon kick that are ready to see these guys go play.

"The turnout in the crowd was great. Very pleased with the support we have here. This fan base is passionate. The championships are the standard and expectation. We've got to get it back there. We've got to wake this beast up. I had Coach Gruden here a few weeks ago, and we talked about that. We've got to wake the beast up, like 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. Just wait. Like it's coming. I'm not patient. I want it to happen every day. But we are going to land some pieces in recruiting, and we are about to do some things that I think will build a roster here that is going to bring it back to where we all want it to be."

On Dallas Wilson, who didn't play

"I'm fired up about Dallas. Dallas on Thursday hit 21.5 miles an hour on the GPS. If we had games the last couple of weeks, Dallas would have played. It's my duty to have enough discipline to go, hey, we don't play until September. What's in his best interest to get healthy and right so that he can play at peak optimal health?

"Would I have liked to see him go spring? Yes. Was it the right move to limit him this spring so he can fully get to where he needs to be, and he can have a full year of recovery to get this thing where he can play at his maximum potential? Yes. Because if he does, watch out. He's a talented dude.

"I love his energy. Even when he's not playing, he's one of the loudest guys in the field. He's talking the most smack. He's letting the defense hear it. I think when you get him back, you add him to the equation in that receiver room, five-six deep. It's a really good room. We need seven, eight and nine to continue to grow too. But you talk about VB and Singleton and Dallas and Bailey and Micah and TJ Abrams, and it's like, okay, that might look pretty good out there.

"You saw us probably play in a decent number of open sets today and a good amount of 11 personnel. Didn't live in 10 today, but we've run probably more 10s though, which is four wides. We've run more four wide this spring than they probably have run recently. In a lot of situations. That doesn't mean we're going to live there because you have to be able to protect your edges to it.

"If you want to slow down a pass rusher, the worst you can do is tell the offensive tackle nobody's in the C gap. Yeah, good luck. So you've got to chip and nudge and help that guy. We've got to keep people off balance, but that receiver room gives us a chance to be explosive, and Dallas' returns a big part of that.

On recruiting, spring setting up the future

"We can get anybody to come visit the University of Florida in America if we do a good job. This is not a really hard place to recruit to. We're the fifth-ranked public school in the United States of America academically right now. You come outside today. It's beautiful. You come to the stadium and you know the history and pageantry of what it feels like to play this place, and you know the stadium renovations that are coming in. You know, the fan base is hungry for a winner.

"I think the guys who have come here to visit, most of them have come back at some point. Whether they've chosen us or not. I think they feel the energy is real, and there are authentic relationships, and they're going to get coached every day, and we're not going to change. I tell recruits all the time, if you like us, you're going to love us later. If you don't like me now, go somewhere else because I'm not changing.

"What you see is what you get, and if you want to improve your craft every day, man, it's going to be a blast. If you're tough, you love football, it's gonna be a blast. If you're soft and you like football, don't come here."

On growing physicality

"I felt growth, yeah. I think we have to continue to live in that weight room and get stronger so we can play with a little bit more movement at the line of scrimmage at times. But I think the guys embraced the way we want them to play the game, which is with an edge, a chip on their shoulder, a blue-collar mindset. That travels. In this league, if you don't have it, it gets exposed really fast. I've seen it on the good and the bad, with my own two eyes.

"I think the guys have embraced it. I think we still have a long way to go there, but there's been a lot of growth. They've really accepted the challenge of stepping up and being a more physical football team. We're going to continue to grow upon that and build upon it."

Did the players seem surprised?

"The way I want them to do everything is with urgency, and I think for some of them that's a little bit new. I want them to walk urgently in the building. I don't like casual behavior, and complacency is a killer. If you think that because you did something one week, it's going to happen the next week, you're going to get exposed. I think the guys have grown.

"We're going to wake up tomorrow, and we are going to get our ass back to work because spring practice may be over, but us getting better so we can try to win football games here is far from over."

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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida football HC Jon Sumrall quotes after Orange and Blue Game