Jon Sumrall may not be taking Tulane players to Florida, but he sure is raiding the Green Wave staff. Now fully focused on the Gators, some familiar faces join him as he rebuilds the staff from the ground up.

Sumrall’s Florida staff will be a constant reminder of his Tulane prowess. He will be reunited with the former Green Wave essential trio of Joe Craddock, Jonathan Galante, and Greg Gasparato. The Florida staff is taking on a completely new look under the new HC.

This is the second time that Craddock and Gasparato have followed Jon Sumrall to a new team. Craddock and Gasparato were Sumrall’s offensive and defensive coordinators. But he had already filled those positions at Florida with Buster Faulkner (Georgia Tech) and Brad White (Kentucky), respectively.

Craddock will transition to being QB coach for Florida, while Gasparato will move to linebackers. Galante holds the same position of special teams coordinator. Craddock is an immensely beneficial assistant to Sumrall, because his offenses have won conference championships for 4 seasons straight. He has built extremely powerful offenses throughout his career, his last at Tulane averaging 27.7 points. But his prowess with quarterbacks is also commendable. He has coached the likes of Jake Retzlaff, Darian Mensah, and Ben Hicks.

Gasparato also has a promising resume. The new LB coach has spent a lot of time in Sumrall’s system. It helped Gasparato design a Louisville defense in 2022 that led the country with 50 sacks. He’d also built an Army defense that finished No. 1 in the country in total defense in 2020. Greg Gasparato has delivered on what was expected of him at every stint, including at Tulane. In Florida, he will bring a new spread, as the unit had been lining up in the 3-3-5 scheme so far.

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Jonathan Galante is yet another Broyles Award nominee in Sumrall’s crew. The special teams unit has to work from scratch for the 2026 season, as kicker Trey Smack and punter Tommy Doma are no longer with UF. Galante will work on raising coverage stats for Florida, which finished ranked 12 in the country this season.

Tulane will now be left with a huge void to fill because all three had helped Sumrall become the phenom he was in the G5 ranks. But Florida now stands a chance for something big in the future, thanks to Jon Sumrall’s new staff.

Former Gator Jesse Palmer lauds Jon Sumrall’s staff recruitment

Jon Sumrall will lead a team with members who have experience in a variety of conferences. He also focused on having some former Florida experience on board as well. After finalizing the hires of Buster Faulkner and Brad White as OC and DC at Florida, ESPN’s Jesse Palmer, who played under the veteran Steve Spurrier at Gainesville, couldn’t be more impressed.

“That’s the thing that I think has been most impressive is, you’re going out and you’re getting a stalwart at D-coordinator in Brad White, who’s had a lot of success coordinating at Kentucky,” Palmer said during the Tulane and Ole Miss playoff round.  “And then, in my opinion, one of the best offensive coordinators in the country in Buster Faulkner, coming over from Georgia Tech.

“One thing you’ve got to remember with Jon Sumrall is all this guy has done as a head coach is win,” Palmer said. “Two years as a head coach at Troy, goes to the conference championship game both years. Two years at Tulane, conference championship game both years, as well. He finds a way to motivate his guys. But no question, delegating and getting a staff right, he’s been hitting home runs.”

This is yet another major upside that Florida gets in Jon Sumrall. He and his crew flew under the radar for most of their careers. Thanks to the Sumrall effect and all those programs thriving under the HC, Florida fans can have some much-needed hope.