There were plenty of disappointed and angry members of Gator Nation on Saturday after Florida’s surprising loss to South Carolina in Gainesville, but none may have been more distraught than a young member of Jon Sumrall’s own household.
With the Florida head coach pushing the Gators to a 4-0 record to start the season, both his new team’s fanbase and the Sumrall family were in a comfortable situation. With Sumrall taking over the Gators this season after going 43-12 across four seasons at Troy and Tulane, his family hasn’t necessarily been accustomed to losing, especially in games the coach’s teams are heavily favored to win.
Florida losing to what was a reeling South Carolina team in The Swamp, 38-19, was a shock to the entire college football world, including Sumrall’s son, Sam, and the 13-year-old let his old man know exactly how he felt about the performance.
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During his weekly ‘Gator Talk‘ show on Monday, Sumrall hilariously shared how passionate and unfiltered Sam is as a fan, and who was nowhere to be found when the coach’s family greeted him on the field after the game.
“I asked my wife, I said, ‘Where’s Sam?’ And she goes, ‘Oh, he left. He could not stay and watch y’all get your butt kicked.’ And I’m like, ‘What? The dude left?'” Sumrall recalled.
After addressing his team in the locker room, Sumrall finally took a glance at his phone, and there it was, an infamous text from his teenage son.
“I’m so pissed off. I don’t want to take a shower. I don’t want to do anything other than maybe punch something,” Sumrall continued. “Finally, I grab my phone to just see, did my brother text, maybe check on Sam since he didn’t stay to the end of the game.
“And Sam texts me and says, ‘Dad, I don’t know if this is forgivable.’ Like, I don’t know if I can forgive you for this. And I’m like, ‘Well, son, you’ve done a few things that I don’t know if I can forgive you for either.'”
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Choice words from your son after a bad loss are one thing, but the head coach also had to console his young daughter after the game, who was crying as the Florida band sent the team off the field.
“My 13-year-old daughter, she comes up to me after the game. We go over to the band, and I look over and she is like in crocodile tears. She is balling,” Sumrall explained. “And I’m like, sweetheart, it’s OK, we lost, we’re gonna bounce back. And she’s like, ‘Dad, I just hate losing for you.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, well, I do too.’”
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While Florida’s loss at home to the Gamecocks was a bit overshadowed by other upsets across the country in Week 6, it was certainly inexplicable.
The Gators looked like worldbeaters just two weeks prior as they dominated then No. 4 Ole Miss by a count of 52-28. While Florida followed that up with a blowout loss on the road to Missouri, most expected the Gators to get back on track at home against a 3-2 South Carolina team, but the Gamecocks jumped out to a 17-10 lead in the first half before dominating the final two quarters.
