2026 Missouri Football Opponent DEEP DIVE: Florida Gators

Welcome backmost to Rock M Nation’s yearly force preview bid of nan upcoming season. Each week we will break down 1 force from nan schedule successful chronological order. Given that rosters are ever fluid - and this is done by a hobbyist alternatively than a pro - location could beryllium immoderate errors successful history and existent roster makeup. All mistakes are done connected intent and pinch sick intent because Nate Edwards doesn’t for illustration you aliases your team.

When you spot nan words “Florida Gators football”, what do you deliberation of?

For me, I didn’t salary overmuch attraction to Florida until Urban Meyer made his transcendent tally astatine nan schoolhouse from ‘05-10 while winning 2 nationalist titles, truthful they’ll ever beryllium nan transcendent dispersed discourtesy pinch a babe rhino astatine backmost and nan largest postulation of elite protect talent connected nan planet. But possibly you retrieve nan higher-flying violative days of Steve Spurrier dropping 50 burgers connected nan “GRRRRRRRR DEFENSE FIRST” SEC successful nan 1990s.

If you’re younger than maine possibly nan “GRRRRRRRR DEFENSE FIRST” applies to Will Muschamp’s type of Florida football, nan 1 wherever discourtesy astir vanished arsenic he won slug fest games 13-10 for 4 years.

My constituent is, Florida has been galore things complete nan years and it’s difficult to nail down 1 circumstantial personality aliases 1 absolute level of competence. And I find that weird for a bluish humor of nan sport. Every programme tin make crappy hires and person down years, sure, but Florida’s scope of outcomes seems way much divers than a well-moneyed, profoundly storied programme successful nan SEC should be.

I don’t cognize if anyone tin beryllium blamed aliases if it’s an organization problem aliases what, I conscionable find it interesting.

Speaking of interesting, Florida was very overmuch not that successful nan past play of American collegiate shot that they played.

Here’s what Florida did past year:

Imagine a play wherever you hit nan #9 squad successful nan state and past suffer to a 5-7 Kentucky. That’s nan world Florida lived successful past year.

Billy Napier was almost fired successful 2024 but did capable pinch a young, 5-star backmost that he was inexplicably allowed different year. Then he mislaid to South Florida successful Week 2 of 2025 and that was really each nan impetus Florida needed to tin him. But they didn’t! And nan adjacent week he mislaid to #3 LSU. And past mislaid to #4 Miami. And still wasn’t fired!

Then nan 8 constituent triumph complete Texas occurred unexpectedly. “Oh, is Billy going to erstwhile again person group he tin move this point around?” group wondered. Then a nonaccomplishment to #5 Texas A&M that wasn’t peculiarly close. Was he fired? No! Because past he hit Mississippi State by 2 points and was 3-4 heading into nan Bye week.

That is erstwhile Florida fired him. Oooooooooooooook.

Florida’s only triumph nan remainder of nan twelvemonth was a 19-point hit down complete rival Florida State to support them from vessel eligibility, which had to beryllium 1 of nan astir satisfactory “crabs successful a bucket” victories of rather immoderate time.

Still, Florida vanished nan twelvemonth astatine 4-8. Yuck.

However, erstwhile you are a bluish humor programme that’s fallen connected difficult times, each you request to do is occurrence your coach and past prosecute nan hottest sanction connected nan coaching marketplace to move everything around. Which they did.

Jon Sumrall is simply a very bully shot coach and, seemingly, a very bully dude.

I can’t speak to his life extracurricular of nan spotlight but, again, he seems for illustration a bully dude. And a well-adjusted, normal dude, arsenic well. Which is simply a rarity successful this occupation these days.

Coach Sumrall has been a highly-regarded sanction for nan past 2 coaching cycles earlier Florida hired him past winter. He’s a protect coordinator by waste and acquisition but he’s built very beardown programs that person thrived successful our modern era of nan sport. Getting a G6 squad to nan 20-40 scope successful SP+ and earning Playoff berths is not easy, and Sumrall has done that.

I’ve been a large instrumentality of his since he took nan Troy occupation and judge that he’s nan nonstop benignant of feline that tin get results almost anywhere.

That being said, I judge location is simply a adjacent critique you tin make of his activity truthful far. Namely: he’s had a caput commencement astatine nan spot he’s worked arsenic a caput coach before. And, by that, I mean earlier he was nan caput coach astatine Troy he was nan Special Teams Coordinator for nan Trojans from 2015-2017. He knew nan place, he knew nan challenges, he astatine slightest had immoderate familiarity pinch nan section authorities and booster types. Same for Tulane; earlier he was nan caput coach location he had 3 years of protect coordinator acquisition astatine that school. I don’t cognize really overmuch of an advantage that a coach tin glean from that experience, but it’s surely amended than jumping into nan caput coaching occupation cold.

And while Sumrall was a linebacker coach astatine Ole Miss for a twelvemonth and has 3 years of acquisition astatine Kentucky, he’s ne'er worked astatine Florida before. And, arsenic you tin show from my locomotion done their caller past, Florida tin beryllium a tricky occupation to navigate astatine times.

Maybe he’s bully capable to flooded that. Maybe not. But I’m going to slope connected Sumrall being really freaking bully astatine his occupation until proven otherwise.

Hold connected a second, I want to spell connected a tangent for a infinitesimal and it takes immoderate upwind up to get there.

Dan Mullen was Florida’s shot coach from 2018 to 2021. And nan point astir Mullen is that he’s a “chip-on-the-shoulder” benignant of coach; a caput coach who does really good successful under-funded, historically overlooked programs wherever he tin thin into nan “THEY DON’T BELIEVE IN US” mantra, enlistee scratch-and-dent players, and usage his large violative encephalon to strategy up offenses that tin bent pinch elite programs. As an OC astatine Florida he was capable to triumph championships for Urban Meyer’s recruiting juggernaut by being nan champion violative mind astatine nan time. As a caput coach, his grumpy outsider schtick only useful successful definite venues.

Case successful point: he did good astatine Mississippi State. Really well. “Second-most wins successful schoolhouse history” well.

But that type of mentality and behaviour doesn’t alert astatine nan flagship schoolhouse of nan authorities of Florida. One that tin enlistee really good connected its ain merits and has each nan money successful nan world to provide…anything that its shot coach needs. But Dan didn’t really usage those resources to build a large unit aliases make pushes for 5-star recruits. Dan doesn’t for illustration 5-star recruits! He actively chose not to enlistee nan highest rated guys because of it! So Dan’s angry-at-the-world attack and lackluster recruiting - paired pinch somewhat diminishing returns - sewage him fired.

And past Billy Napier takes nan occupation and promises a “modernization” of nan staff, “Alabama-fying” Florida’s shot coaching roster by bringing successful a monolithic activity unit to recruit, train, scout, develop, and negociate crippled time to nan microlevel. Beat writers were calling it an “invasion of men successful polos”. Napier invented roles that ne'er existed earlier and hired guys to do it. They had value power coaches for each position (and each QC had astatine slightest 1 assistant!). Four different dieticians, half for “performance” and nan different half for “recovery”. At slightest 2 assistants for their 3 different types of recruiting coordinator. Something called a “Game Changer coordinator”. Plus aggregate co-coordinators connected some sides, and moreover 2 different violative statement coaches and multiple adjunct violative statement coaches!

And yet Napier struggled pinch relinquishing control, truthful each these roles were created to do a very circumstantial thing but had to get support to do truthful first, and Napier created so many aspects of a shot programme he was intelligibly overwhelmed and missing elemental stuff. Whether nan squad could spell for it connected 4th down aliases not: bad call, each time. Personnel packages: often wrong. Procedure penalties, sideline warnings, NIL-deal delivery: each getting missed.

It seemed that, successful an effort to look “modern” and find prestige successful spending money to create a monolithic unit of shot professionals, Florida allowed Napier to build a instrumentality truthful convoluted and analyzable that they forgot to return attraction of nan easy worldly first, starring to 6- and 4-win seasons astatine multiple-national-title-winning Florida.

So that gets america to today. And successful walks Jon Sumrall. He’s still operating pinch Florida’s fund truthful he has a overmuch larger coaching unit than moreover different SEC programs do, but he’s cleaning location and making nan full programme guidance strategy streamlined (at least, truthful he says).

(Sumrall did hide to occurrence 1 of nan adjunct violative statement coaches until aggregate weeks into his tenure, though. That’s conscionable bully comedy.)

And while he did support Florida’s aged protect statement coach Gerald Chapman, everyone other was location other past year, including astir of his protect unit that he imported pinch him from Tulane.

Getting violative coordinator Buster Faulkner from Georgia Tech was a coup. Faulkner has been an overlooked and nether appreciated coordinator who has built bully (and varied) offenses from Arkansas State, Southern Miss, and Georgia Tech. And getting protect coordinator Brad White - nan 1 competent Kentucky point complete nan past 5 years - is different monolithic win. The talent is location connected this staff, now its conscionable seeing really they activity together.

As I said earlier, Florida is 1 of nan uncommon schools that tin enlistee for itself. You could slap a Florida shot visor connected an ocelot and it could bring successful a Top 20 recruiting class, easy. Point being, moreover bad Florida shot teams person highly talented players connected its roster, and erstwhile a unit gets fired, nan reservoir of shot talent busts and washes complete each different powerfulness program.

To date, I count only 10 of Florida’s 34 portal losses that went “down” successful programme hierarchy, and half of those were to Appalachian State aliases South Florida (very bully programs) and James Madison (Playoff subordinate successful 2025, besides that’s wherever Billy Napier is coaching now).

Missouri was capable to nab receiver Naesehaun Montgomery from this group and location will beryllium plentifulness of different erstwhile Florida players that nan Tigers (and nan remainder of nan SEC) will tally into this season.

Sumrall and his unit targeted 1 clear point successful nan portal: experience. Yes, Buster Faulkner brought successful 4 Georgia Tech guys pinch him and Sumrall imported his specialists from Tulane but everyone other were guys who person played aggregate years. Part of that mightiness conscionable beryllium what it’s for illustration for a caller coach successful our modern portal era: flush nan aged roster, bring successful guys that are location because you brought them there, and build from that baseline. The different portion mightiness beryllium nan aforementioned 34 portal losses. But their extremity wasn’t to bring successful projects but production, and Florida will person 29 caller faces to capable successful nan gaps.

Again, anyone tin enlistee Florida and do conscionable good (unless your Dan Mullen and actively take to not enlistee well). Sumrall’s first precocious schoolhouse haul classed 17th successful nan federation and 9th successful nan SEC, pinch 13 bluish chippers successful nan 19-man class. Edge rusher K.J. Ford astir apt has nan clearest statement to early playing clip fixed that caller DC Brad White subscribes to nan usage of a hybrid linebacker/defensive extremity domiciled and Florida presently has a deficiency of JACK-style players connected their roster. Also support an oculus connected receiver Justin Williams and area C.J. Bronaugh, immoderate of nan highest-rated players to beryllium signed by Florida successful nan past 3 years.

Forget what Florida did connected discourtesy past year. What does a Buster Faulkner discourtesy do?

Oh, wait, hide that, too. Faulkner is 1 of those coordinators who, ya know, looks astatine nan talent connected his roster and crafts an discourtesy to fresh that. Novel concept, I know.

At Middle Tennessee, Faulkner began arsenic a run-to-set-up-the-pass feline pinch elite moving backmost Benny Cunningham, past slow transitioned to a pass-first-efficiency-focused onslaught erstwhile MTSU sewage its hands connected immoderate amended receivers. His 1 twelvemonth arsenic Arkansas State’s OC featured an discourtesy that was overtly reliant connected moving nan shot and uncorking bombs done nan air, while astatine Southern Miss he relied connected Jack Abraham (remember that guy?) to propulsion it astir 400 times pinch nary pretense of a crushed attack.

And past we get to nan beautiful slop astatine Georgia Tech. Grumpy Brent Pry specialized successful recruiting axenic beef for his discourtesy truthful Faulkner took a backmost that loved to get deed and ran him and nan moving backs 50 times per game.

And it worked.

So what will Faulkner trade pinch nan caller toys astatine his disposal? He has a thousand-yard rusher, 2 unproven quarterbacks pinch very different accomplishment sets, a bunch of sure-handed receivers, and a patchwork violative statement that doesn’t person 1 overarching accomplishment set.

I can’t hold to spot what this looks like!

Faulkner and Sumrall’s first violative problem to lick is astatine quarterback. As antecedently mentioned, Faulkner portalled successful his backup backmost from past year, Aaron Philo, arsenic a feline who had worked pinch Faulkner’s book and knew his tendencies. But Philo is hardly a proven commodity, appearing successful 8 games complete 2 years while attempting 102 passes and 16 rushes. All good for a backup, but surely acold from a judge thing.

And past there’s nan feline who’s near complete from nan erstwhile regime: Tramell Jones, Jr. A Top 250 subordinate successful precocious school, Jones was an afterthought freshman astatine nan opening of nan 2025 play but turned many heads successful nan chances he had connected nan field. Last year’s squad loved him, and he brought an electrical athleticism and excitement that tends to beryllium lacking successful a 4-win assemblage shot campaign. Sumrall and Faulkner person had thing but affirmative things to opportunity astir him, arsenic well.

So, now what? Older, unproven feline who knows nan existent coordinator? Or younger, breathtaking feline pinch a higher ceiling and little floor?

Jadan Baugh is simply a dude. He mightiness not person had nan yards per transportation mean that wows but he was 1 of nan precocious points of a unspeakable twelvemonth astatine Florida. He managed a 50% occurrence complaint contempt being nan only point that worked good connected discourtesy and having to conflict nan opposing defenses that only keyed successful connected him. 10% of his runs went for 10+ yards. and while his yards before interaction was a not-so-great 1.78, his yards after contact were successful nan apical 4th of nan state astatine 3.54. Also, he didn’t fumble astatine each past year!

And pinch nan additions of big-play artists London Montgomery (from East Carolina) and Evan Pryor (Cincinnati), Florida should person capable rushing talent to person Faulkner to support his overtly-ground-oriented discourtesy of his Georgia Tech tenure clicking successful Gainesville.

You could look astatine nan Florida receiving corps and announcement that there’s only 1 subordinate connected location that has had a play of complete 600 yards receiving (Eric Singleton) and that nary 1 eclipsed that people past year. Or, you could look astatine nan receiving corps and announcement that Vernell Brown was a freshman who played successful 10 games, and all-world talent Dallas Wilson only played 4 games past year, besides arsenic a freshman. Sumrall mixed successful seasoned guys to supplement his ace young talent and it’s a move that makes each nan consciousness successful nan world. I don’t cognize really overmuch this caller Florida squad will want to propulsion but nan ability to propulsion is overmuch much enticing acknowledgment to their portal efforts and maturation of younger talent.

Last year’s violative statement classed 126th successful penalties, a patient 23rd successful pressures allowed, but a very bad 111th successful blown tally blocks and 77th successful wide blown blocks. The 2 worst starters successful missed blocks return from past year’s portion while 3 portalled linemen effort to capable successful nan gaps. Former Georgia Tech halfway Harrison Moore was an fantabulous tally blocker. T.J. Shannahan from Penn State was good astatine some tally and walk blocking, while Stanford’s Emeka Ugorji was a liability successful tally blocking but decent successful walk blocking. A operation of them positive nan holdover’s from past twelvemonth will person their activity trim retired for them.

Billy Napier only had 1 discourtesy rank successful nan SP+ Top 25, and that was nan 2024 group that classed 23rd. So if his discourtesy stunk, well, yeah, that’s what it ever did.

Given that Napier was an violative coordinator you’d deliberation his offenses would person been better, but nan existent spot of his Florida teams were his elite defenses that classed 9th and 2nd successful 2023 and 2024 respectively. As Missouri fans, we cognize really important it is to person an elite-tier defense to brace pinch an underperforming, run-oriented discourtesy and nan downfall of nan 2025 Gators was that Napier’s defense had nan audacity to gaffe from Top 10 to Top 50 without his permission.

The biggest rumor I spot pinch past year’s group is that they allowed offenses to beryllium comfortably efficient. The Gator defense was capable to limit scoring conscionable good but offenses could steadily move nan shot and, eventually, deterioration Florida out. It didn’t thief that this defense classed 59th successful turnovers created for an discourtesy that desperately needed turnover thief and vanished astatine a separator of -1 connected nan year.

The bully news, then, is that Sumrall imported a ton of havoc. Bryce Thornton, Myles Graham, Jayden Woods, and Kamran James each bring much than 9 havoc plays a portion backmost from past year’s group, while effect transfers specified arsenic Emmanuel Odeybadajo (Jax State), D.J. Coleman (Baylor), and Jordy Lowery (East Carolina) select into nan vacant spots. Yes, those guys were playing lower-level shot past year; no, I don’t deliberation you’re going to spot a immense driblet successful havoc fixed their accomplishment sets. Sumrall and Brad White are bully identifiers of talent and White’s adjacent bad defense will beryllium his first; overmuch for illustration my connection pinch Faulkner, I’m going to spot that a Brad White defense will beryllium fantabulous until proven otherwise.

With nan caveat that location are nary easy SEC schedules…Florida sewage 1 of nan easier ones.

FAU and Campbell unfastened nan season, and of people nan non-con rivalry crippled against Florida State is nan past crippled of nan regular season. But going up against rebuilding Auburn, Lane Kiffin-less Ole Miss astatine home, past Missouri and South Carolina is astir nan astir manageable opening agelong a squad could inquire for. I’m not saying Florida sweeps this group of games, mind you, conscionable that it’s not a ace demanding agelong of games.

Of people playing astatine Texas and past nan Cocktail Party against Georgia is demanding, but past Oklahoma astatine home, Kentucky connected nan road, Vandy astatine location is overmuch preferable to different options. Hell, disregard nan pre-season SP+ rankings: if Florida ends up being moreover 20 spots amended than past twelvemonth - truthful 43rd successful nan state - you could talk yourself into them going 7-5 without a ton of improvement. That’s bully for a first twelvemonth coaching staff.

Other than nan 1965 Sugar Bowl, Missouri and Florida person only played each different arsenic SEC foes, and nan bid is reasonably moreover pinch Missouri holding a 7-6 advantage. Since Drinkwitz arrived successful Columbia nan crippled advantage has shaken retired to “who is astatine home?”, pinch hosting teams winning nan past 4 matchups. Florida’s past triumph successful Columbia: 2019. Missouri’s past triumph successful Gainesville: 2018.

I for illustration nan unit that Florida has put together present and I judge that it’ll do good agelong term. As pinch astir of these previews, nan mobility is “will nan transfers click?”. I don’t person a awesome reply for that correct now but, arsenic acold arsenic nan 2026 matchup of these 2 teams, Missouri will beryllium hosting this one. Maybe that’s each you need!