Jon Sumrall and Lane Kiffin were arguably the two hottest names on the coaching carousel toward the end of last season, but they manufactured very different exits from their old jobs.
Kiffin left LSU before his Ole Miss team went into the playoffs, which was followed by a back-and-forth as to which coaches were coming to Baton Rouge and whether they would also miss coaching the Rebels in the playoff. Sumrall took the Florida job but remained with Tulane for its playoff game against Ole Miss. The new Gators coach addressed the way that cycle played out in his first appearance at SEC Media Days.
"I did not envy Lane's situation at all," Sumrall said Wednesday. "When we would talk, I felt awful for what he was going through and everybody involved because it wasn't fair to anyone."
Sumrall added, "Lane and I talked as we were going through. He was like, 'You and I are going through the same thing in November.' I was like, 'No, Lane, we're not. If you leave, you're leaving an SEC school to go to another SEC school. It's a little different. I'm leaving Tulane.'"
Sumrall admitted it was difficult to prepare the Green Wave for their bowl game while also trying to overhaul Florida. He identified the college football calendar as the main challenge in changing coaching jobs.
"Our calendar does not make sense," Sumrall said. "The NFL have it figured out. They play games and after the Super Bowl they have player movement, free agency, the draft, OTAs, practice, training camp, play games again. ...
"The calendar we have in college football right now, going from being a one-semester sport essentially to now we are playing our championship game in late January, it doesn't match up with the movement of coaches and players very well, so it's cumbersome to say the least."
SEC competition represents a significant step up for Sumrall after successful runs at Troy and Tulane. It means nine challenging conference games every season - something that's irked a number of SEC coaches as difficult schedules are now an annual occurrence.
However, don't expect to hear any objections from Sumrall.
"I wasn't in the room when those conversations were had. I wasn't in this league yet," Sumrall said, according to the Gainesville Sun's Andrew Abadie. "We're going to play anybody, anywhere, anytime. ... I'm not going to whine and complain about being an SEC head football coach."
Sumrall and the Gators' first two conference games come against two men also in their first full seasons as SEC head coaches: Alex Golesh and Auburn are on the slate in Week 3, and Pete Golding's Ole Miss comes to Florida on Sept. 26.
