![Florida head coach Jon Sumrall talks on the sideline during spring practice at Sanders Practice Fields in Gainesville, FL on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_72,w_2698,h_1517/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/production/198/01ksgd5fxtxvgw2xteh7.jpg "Florida head coach Jon Sumrall talks on the sideline during spring practice at Sanders Practice Fields in Gainesville, FL on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]")
When Jon Sumrall was hired at Florida this offseason, one of his first big moved was bringing Brad White to Gainesville with him. White and Sumrall both coached under Mark Stoops at Kentucky, with White being the Cats' defensive coordinator up until Stoops' leave.
Sumrall, though, wasted no time in telling reporters that his defense at Florida would look nothing like the one that Kentucky ran.
As the BBN knows, the Cats would often sit back in static zones that allowed quarterbacks to pick them apart unless the front four got home right from the rip. And because Kentucky was often at a talent disadvantage along the line, that happened quite often. Peek at these stats from the last three Tennessee matchups as proof.
2023, Joe Milton: 17-20, 227 yards 1 TD
2024, Nico Iamaleava: 28-38, 292 yards 1 TD
2025, Joey Aguilar: 20-26, 396 yards 3 TD
These are passers otherwise less efficient that Kentucky allowed to score with ease, and are a handful of the many examples of the Wildcats' subpar defense.
Moving to a New Scheme
When asked about the Gators' defense on the Gator Nation Football Podcast, Sumrall said:
"I think it's a blend... not telling Brad, hey, let's do everything exactly how you did it in Kentucky, because even if he was still at Kentucky next year, you'd still evolve after watching cut-ups and tape from the previous year and go, all right, what went well, what didn't go well?"
Sumrall must not have watched much Kentucky Football following his leave in 2022.
Just about every game, the Cats ran a zone scheme where defenders were responsible for a certain area instead of a certain offensive player. Kentucky would send three or four rushers towards the quarterback to try and clog up run lanes, and a spy (a player whose sole responsibility is watching for a late scramble) with one of the linebackers to help contain quarterback runs.
A Predictable Defense
Offenses knew this, and just about any quarterback would pick Kentucky apart as a result. It's why I, for one, wasn't bummed to see White head to Gainesville. He earned that due to a solid statistical profile while at Kentucky, without a doubt. But, in almost 30 games against ranked opponents, White's defense gave up 30.2 points per contest. That simply won't get it done.
Kentucky had just one win against a top 10 opponent during Mark Stoops' tenure of 13 years (Ole Miss), while Clark Lea at Vandy has three in five years already. Same conference, arguably even program, entirely different results.
It was time to move on, to say the least. And clearly, both Sumrall and White understand that they can't do what White did at Kentucky. Looking at the results, above and elsewhere, they can't be entirely blamed.
Both coaches will return to Lexington when Kentucky and Florida face off on November 14. Then, in a reality better for both sides, Mark Stoops will not be present. All eyes are on Will Stein's first-year team.
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