Jon Sumrall Sends Clear Message on ‘Stealing’ Tulane Recruits to Florida

New Florida Gators coach Jon Sumrall is balancing two college football jobs as he settles into his new role in Gainesville. After being appointed as Billy Napier’s successor in Florida, Sumrall was allowed by Tulane to continue coaching the Green Wave during the College Football Playoffs.

After winning the American Conference championship game, Tulane was ranked No. 11 on Selection Sunday and will travel to Oxford to play against the No. 6 Ole Miss Rebels in the first round of the playoff. According to PFSN’s College Football Playoff Meter, Tulane has a 0.15% chance of making the national championship game.

Jon Sumrall Sends Clear Message on Stealing Tulane Prospects

During Wednesday’s segment of the “Wake Up Bar Stool” podcast, Sumrall revealed that he did not flip any recruits from the Green Wave for the Gators on Signing Day and did not entice any student-athletes to enter the transfer portal to follow him to Gainesville.

“I’ve told the team at Tulane, I will not talk to them about going into the portal at all,” Sumrall said. “If any guy goes into the portal and they’re good enough to play here, then I’ll recruit them. But I’ll have zero conversation. I didn’t steal one commit from Tulane to Florida

“We signed 14 dudes for Tulane last week, with no head coach in place for 2026. We signed 18 guys here at Florida, we flipped zero commitments. I will recruit zero of them to go into the portal.”

The issue of former coaches poaching recruits from their former teams surfaced when former Penn State coach James Franklin successfully convinced around 10 recruits who had signed with the Nittany Lions to instead commit to the Virginia Tech Hokies during National Signing Day.

Tulane A.D. Trusted Sumrall To Honor His Word

During a news conference on December 1, after Sumrall had taken the Florida job, Tulane athletic director David Harris revealed that he trusted the former Green Wave coach to keep his word while juggling both jobs.

Unlike the Rebels’ athletic director, Keith Carter, who denied Lane Kiffin’s request to continue coaching the team during the College Football Playoffs, Harris trusted Sumrall to continue leading the program during a historic season.

“I believe and trust him to be a man of his word,” Harris said. “It’s been great for me because you don’t have to wonder and worry what’s going on. (He) assured me he’ll be working on behalf of Tulane football to help bring in the very best class that he can.”

After Kiffin convinced LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker to stay on the Tigers’ staff after weeks of being linked to the Tulane job, the Green Wave promoted passing game coordinator and receivers coach Will Hall to their vacant head coaching position when this season ends.