It is finally game week. The Florida Gators take on the FAU Owls this Saturday at 7:45 p.m. Head coach Jon Sumrall addressed the media this morning to preview this weekend’s matchup.
Please Read: Welcome to the new-look Inside the Gators
- Former Florida Football Player Roundtable I
- Post-Fall Camp Ranking of Florida position-by-position
- Notebook: Philo named starting quarterback
- Updated Fall Football Roster
- Tulane player goes in-depth on Sumrall
JON SUMRALL
DEPTH CHART
Florida football released its opening day depth chart prior to this morning’s press conference. Sumrall was asked how that process goes and how the players react. “We’re really direct. I don’t hide things from our players. I’m brutally honest… if you like the truth, you are going to love being around me. If you don’t like the truth, you are going to hate being around me,” Sumrall said. Lacota Dippre was listed as the starting tight end at the Y-spot. “Lacota has been really steady… he’s been very consistent… Heze [Kent] has made as much improvement as a freshman as anybody on our team.” Ben Hanks III was listed as a starting cornerback over senior corner Dijon Johnson. “Ben has done a great job… he’s a guy that works incredibly hard. I’m in the weight room this morning at 6 a.m. with Rusty [Whitt], and he’s in there doing mobility when meetings aren’t til 7,” Sumrall said.
INJURY REPORT
For the past several weeks, Sumrall has opened his press conference with an injury report because he likes to be transparent. Instead, this week he closed with a very brief injury report compared to the past. “We’re pretty healthy… [Evan] Chieca is questionable. He’s practicing, he’s running around, but it’s a matter of how far we want to push him or extend him. Kelvin Jimenez is out for the year. Kendall Guervil is back practicing. The injury report is pretty positive,” Sumrall said. He added that overall, the team is very healthy, saying that “we got pretty much everybody ready to go.”
GAME WEEK JITTERS AND EXPECTATIONS
Sumrall spoke on the emotions and feelings going into his first game as an SEC head coach. “I’ll just be excited. I don’t get nervous… I mean if I see a rattlesnake I might get nervous. I’m fired up… I still get amped but I’m not biting my fingernails or anything,” Sumrall said. He was also asked about expectations and gave a blunt response, saying that “My expectation is try to go 1-0 this week. That’s my thought process every week.” He went on to talk about the standard at the University of Florida: “The expectation at Florida is championships in every sport… we’ve got a lot of work to do to be a championship caliber program.”
LEADERSHIP
Sumrall was asked about team leadership and what players have stood out in that department. “Myles Graham has been really steady as a leader… Jayden Woods is a tremendous leader… Aaron Chiles is a good leader… Bryce Thornton, DJ Coleman,” Sumrall said. Harrison Moore, TJ Shanahan, Lacota Dippre, Aaron Philo, and Tramell Jones Jr. were also mentioned when speaking of team leaders. Sumrall said, “It’s been a long list of guys that have elevated their leadership.”
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