College Football's coaching carousel is off the rails as we've already seen 11 head coaching jobs open up while every weekend brings multiple new openings. We've seen everything from big names like James Franklin and Mike Gundy fired to struggling SEC coaches in Billy Napier and Sam Pittman lose their jobs. Once one of these big Power 4 jobs like Penn State or Florida open up, everyone starts to look for the flashy name to hire away.
More often than not, these flashy hires are failing, yet programs haven't seemed to learn their lesson. LSU hired Brian Kelly away from Notre Dame to win Championships, but the fanbase is already out on him just 4 years into his tenure. Lincoln Riley was hired to be the savior of USC Football, yet he's fallen flat.
Amid the noise and name-chasing, there’s one coach who just keeps building, winning, and developing players. His name’s Jon Sumrall, and he might be the most dependable candidate on the market.
From Troy to Tulane, Sumrall Keeps Proving It Wasn’t a Fluke
After rising through the ranks as a defensive assistant to the defensive coordinator at Kentucky, Jon Sumrall finally got his first Head Coaching job at Troy. Sumrall inherited a program that had never won more than 5 games under the three year tenure of Chip Lindsey.
In his first season at Troy, Sumrall quickly proved he was one of the best up-and-coming Head Coaches in America, going 12-2 with one of his two losses coming against Ole Miss a team with far more talent. The next season he proved it wasn't a fluke leading Troy to a 11-3 season with his losses coming to Curt Cignetti at JMU, #15 Kansas State, and Duke in the Bowl Game.
Troy's 23 wins over that two year span was tied with Tulane for the 3rd most wins in the Country trailing only Georgia, Michigan, and Washington. The Troy Trojans and Michigan Wolverines were the only two teams to win back-to-back Conference Championships in the same span.
Sumrall's run at Troy was good enough to earn him a promotion as he took over for the departing Willie Fritz at Tulane. In his first season at Tulane, Sumrall went 9-5 which is a step back from Fritz's mark, but 3 of his losses came against Power 4 teams and another came against a Top 25 Army team.
In 2025, Jon Sumrall faced the challenge of losing his two biggest stars as Darian Mensah became one of the highest paid players in the Country for Duke while Makhi Hughes transferred to Oregon. Despite all the turnover and losing his stars on offense, the Green Wave are off to a 6-1 start with their lone loss coming against Ole Miss.
What the Carousel gets wrong and what Sumrall Gets Right
Every year in the Coaching Carousel we see programs ignore fit and style of play solely going after the biggest name with the best record. USC hired Lincoln Riley based on his explosive offenses, but quickly have seen that you can't play the same style in the Big Ten. Brian Kelly built strong running teams at Notre Dame, but at LSU he's found it's much tougher to run the ball and has failed miserably.
The best hires over the past few cycles have been the coaches with a clear identity and proven ability to do one thing exceptionally well. Marcus Freeman and Dan Lanning have become two of the best young coaches based on their defensive background, Jon Sumrall has built his teams the same way everywhere he's been.
A program hiring Jon Sumrall is getting a great defensive mind who's already proven he can do more with less. Troy and Tulane have succeed under Sumrall because of his ability to develop players as he hasn't been around either program enough to get a full sense on how his recruits will pan out.
Why Jon Sumrall makes the most sense for an SEC Program
When you look at potential landing spots for Jon Sumrall if he chooses to move, landing in the SEC makes the most sense. Sumrall has deep ties in Alabama from his time coaching at Troy as is the same in Louisiana with Tulane, and Kentucky from his playing and coaching days.
The Florida Gators will most likely end up overlooking Jon Sumrall for a flashier name after they took a chance on Billy Napier from the Sun Belt. A program like Arkansas would be getting a coach capable of leading them back to relevance in Sumrall while any program that fires their coach next should make Sumrall tell them he's staying at Tulane.