Inside Jon Sumrall’s final moments at Tulane on the CFP stage

Jon Sumrall operated in a unique position throughout the month of December. One head coaching job in the modern climate of college football is already a bear to handle, but the fiery 43-year old head coach worked double-duty for three weeks, and it was an arduous situation he willingly signed up for.

On Nov. 30, Sumrall was hired as head coach of the Florida Gators, officially launching a new journey in the SEC. Sumrall, already on his third job since debuting as the head coach of Troy in 2022, quickly took to the phone lines to assemble the Gators’ 2026 recruiting class, as National Signing Day transpired less than a week after he signed his new contract. Yet at the same time, Sumrall elected to continue his current mission of leading the 2025 Tulane Green Wave to new heights — promising to remain with the team until its final snap of the year.

“I really respect him for everything he’s done for us throughout the season,” Tulane running back Jamauri McClure said of Sumrall. “I’ve just got a lot of respect for him for staying and finishing the job. If he would have left. I probably would have looked at him a little bit differently. But him being able to stay and coach us to the end, I appreciate that. It means a lot to me.”

Putting sleep on the backburner during his juggling act, the newly-named Florida head coach simultaneously game-planned for Tulane’s upcoming American Conference Championship vs. North Texas — which presented a win-and-in situation for the College Football Playoff. In the championship setting in New Orleans, Sumrall’s Green Wave dominated the trenches and escaped in 34-21 fashion, becoming the second American team to qualify for the exclusive CFP.

Sumrall already overcame the adversity of balancing two jobs while guiding Tulane to an unforgettable championship win. But if that wasn’t enough for the human mind to comprehend, the head coach then received unfortunate news one day prior to the Green Wave’s playoff opener at Ole Miss. His father George passed away at age 77.

“It’s been hard. I’m not going to deny it,” Sumrall said. “I called my mom Friday morning at about, I don’t know, 6 a.m., whatever time, when I was driving into the office. She picked up and she just said, ‘Jon, I was going to call
you in about an hour, but Dad passed last night, through the night.’ I’m like, ‘All right, Mom, what can I do, what do you need?’ She said, ‘I’ve got the emergency people there to help.’”

Sumrall’s father had battled severe health issues since March but made an effort to attend his son’s November games at Tulane, as well as the American Conference Championship on Dec. 5 — 14 days prior to his passing.

“I said, ‘Mom, you don’t have to come to the game but I’d love to have you there if you want to be there. You make the call.’ She said, ‘I’m not missing the game.’ So Mom is here tonight,” Sumrall recalled. “I love my dad. I’m a lot of who I am because of how he raised me, and I can smile knowing that I’m going to live a life that’s going to honor my dad. He watched us today. He’s probably got some questions about how we played, just like I do. I just don’t have to hear them tonight from him. I’m sure I’ll hear them from my mom, though. But man, it’s been hard.”

When Sumrall walked through The Grove at Ole Miss with his players roughly two hours before kickoff, he spotted his mom in the roped-off crowd, embracing her in an emotional moment. Compartmentalizing life and football in such a moment isn’t easy, but when that walk was complete, the head coach found himself standing inside the hostile environment of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, tasked with upsetting No. 6 Ole Miss in front of a record crowd.

Tulane could not keep pace with the Rebels, falling 41-10 in the teams’ second meeting of 2025. The lopsided defeat effectively ended Tulane’s season as well as Sumrall’s two-year tenure with the Green Wave. Although the Green Wave fell short in their biggest game in program history, the players and coaches fought their best to rally around their grief-stricken coach.

“Coach Sumrall is a phenomenal leader,” Tulane defensive coordinator Greg Gasparato said. “People look at you in times of adversity, and I don’t think he could have handled it any better. I really don’t. He brought the team together, the guys rallied around him. There was no let-off because of that, if that makes sense. Coach’s mom got to the hotel last night. That was a big deal. I don’t know how he did it. I lost my dad when I was in college. I don’t know how he made it through. He’s a stud, and the team rallied around it.”

However, the team’s inspired spirit was not enough to overcome Ole Miss in front of 68,000 in Oxford, MS. Tulane never led or threatened to challenge the Rebels on the scoreboard, bowing out of its first College Football Playoff run in decisive fashion. Although Saturday evening produced a bitter feeling, Sumrall wants to remember this team for its trailblazing path to the 12-team bracket, which involved winning the school’s second American championship.

“I’m not okay with a loss. Never will be,” Sumrall said. “I also told them it doesn’t change how I feel about them. I love this group. Love each guy on that team. This team will walk together forever as champions because we won a conference championship. So while the outcome tonight sucks — I’m not happy with it and there’s nothing about it I feel good about — I still feel good about this football team because we hoisted a championship trophy two weeks ago. I told them that in 30 or 40 years they’ll bring them back for a celebration. I’ll probably need a cane to walk around and celebrate with them, but I’m going to celebrate.”

When Sumrall and a dejected Green Wave team funneled into the visiting locker room, the head coach, who donned a black Tulane hat and black Tulane hoodie, knew fully well it would be his final time publicly representing the school. Prior to his upcoming flight to Gainesville, the head coach delivered a parting message to the players responsible for the program’s first CFP appearance.

“I also told them that for the rest of my life if I could ever do anything for them, I’m a phone call away,” Sumrall said. “If that means for a reference for a job or if that means when they get married or they have kids, I want to hear from them. I love these guys. They’re all like sons to me. The way I coach and the way we interact with our team, man, we do life together. These guys have other stories, and I want to know the rest of their lives. I want to be a part of what they’re doing and follow them. I told them I loved them and that regardless of what was next for each and every one of them, whatever they needed from me, I would be there to support them in any way I could.”

One of the coach’s principles he reiterated throughout December involved leaving the place better than he found it. While Sumrall is moving to Florida along with several members from Tulane’s staff — and several players once the transfer portal opens in January — he still possesses a lofty vision for the future of Green Wave football. In the week leading up to the playoff game, he and his wife Ginny sent a $100,000 gift to Tulane’s talent fund, setting the program up for success under his successor, Will Hall.

“I’m a Tulane Green Wave fan. I always will be,” Sumrall said. “I think (athletic director) David Harris and (president) Mike Fitts, the administration at Tulane are committed to having long-term success in football. It’s really cool to see 2021 Tulane went 2-10 and then what’s happened the last four years, the momentum that’s been created — I want to see it continue. That’s why my wife and I made the gift we made, and anything I can ever do to help Tulane football, I will.”