Two jobs, two phones, one goal: Jon Sumrall's College Football Playoff balancing act -- Tulane and Florida

Jon Sumrall needs a pick-me-up. 

It's break time after Tulane's first practice in preparation for the College Football Playoff, and in between phone calls, the head coach is receiving a cocktail of fluids and vitamins via an intravenous drip.

That's life for Sumrall, who might be the busiest, most sleep-deprived man in college football. While preparing to lead Tulane into its first-ever playoff appearance this week, he's also busy assembling a staff and handling the duties of his new job at Florida, one of the biggest programs in the sport.

"There's no official end of the day," Sumrall says over the phone. "You work as long as you can until you pass out."

That has meant nights of just two to four hours of sleep. On Friday, Sumrall splurged, allowing himself seven full hours before Tulane returned from final exams to begin a full week of practices. The past few weeks have been a whirlwind for the 43-year-old, who is effectively serving as the CEO of two football programs at once in a rare arrangement approved by both Tulane and Florida.

"It became clear it was the right decision to make," says Tulane athletics director David Harris. "It gave us the best chance to win, and it felt like it was the right thing to do for everyone involved."

Sumrall accepted Florida's job offer the Sunday after the regular season ended. He informed his Tulane players before practice that morning. He coached another practice Monday morning, then boarded a plane to Gainesville, where he addressed the Gators' roster and was formally introduced at a press conference later that day.

That night, he flew back to New Orleans, landing at 8:30 p.m. He set his alarm for 4:45 a.m. Tuesday and resumed his routine: a 5 a.m. workout at Tulane's facility, special teams meetings at 7 a.m., position meetings at 7:30 a.m. and practice at 9:45 a.m.

"He's Roll Waving while he's here. You don't have to worry bout that," says offensive coordinator Will Hall, who has been tabbed to replace Sumrall as Tulane's head coach.

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Sumrall navigated Early Signing Day for two programs, securing 18 players at Florida and 14 at Tulane. He even found time to flip four-star safety Dylan Purter from LSU to the Gators.

Forty-eight hours later, Tulane defeated North Texas to win the American Conference championship and clinch a spot in the College Football Playoff.

The celebration was brief. The work was beginning.

"Tulane gave me an opportunity to finish this the right way with our team," says Sumrall. "I'm forever indebted because, man, these opportunities to play in this type of situation -- are you kidding me? You get an opportunity to be one of 12 teams still pursuing the main goal at the end of the year. 

"I'm also ridiculously grateful to Florida. They're not asking me to leave this place the wrong way. They've been awesome."

Sumrall now carries two phones. One number he knows by heart after 13 years. The other is new, a phone given to him by Florida, with a number he hasn't quite yet committed to memory. 

"My wife knows the phone is constantly hot," Sumrall says. "I don't think I've had an off hour for two weeks. I don't think I will for a while. I'd like to keep working two jobs longer. This is kinda fun."

Winning helps. Sumrall has advanced to conference championship games in all four seasons as a head coach, winning three titles. He's 43-11 at Troy and Tulane with three 11-win seasons.

That résumé sparked weeks of discussions with Auburn, including an in-home visit in New Orleans. The two seemed destined to reach an agreement, but negotiations cooled late in the regular season as Florida pivoted toward Sumrall once it became clear Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin -- the hottest name on the market -- was headed to LSU.

"Not many coaches win big at two different non-Power programs, and even fewer do it as quickly as Jon has done it," Florida athletics director Scott Stricklin said in November.

Sumrall is a fast-talking, charismatic, blue-collar grinder with a laser focus. He embodies a mix of the traits that best define legendary SEC leaders Steve Spurrier and Kirby Smart. Sumrall grew up in Huntsville, Alabama, and played linebacker at Kentucky in the early 2000s, where he later began his coaching career as a graduate assistant, leading to stops as an assistant at Tulane, Troy and Ole Miss before landing back at Kentucky as Mark Stoops' linebackers coach. He coached alongside offensive mastermind Neal Brown at Kentucky, then followed his path to Troy, where he became head coach in 2022 and promptly won back-to-back Sun Belt titles. 

He then followed WIllie Fritz, his former boss, at Tulane and has appeared in back-to-back American title games. 

Simply put, wherever Sumrall goes, winning tends to follow.

"We'll get the job done the right way in Florida. I'm very confident in that. We're gonna do a great job at the University of Florida," says Sumrall.

For now, Tulane has his attention. Sumrall snagged Georgia Tech offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner and Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White to run the show on the ground at Florida while he leads Tulane. He also hired Dave Caldwell, a front-office executive with the Philadelphia Eagles, to oversee the day-to-day operations as the Gators' general manager.

"Those are the miracle workers for me right now," says Sumrall.

In a logistical move rarely seen in college athletics, Sumrall and Hall have worked in tandem to shape Tulane's future staff despite Sumrall leaving soon for The Swamp. Several assistants are expected to follow Sumrall to Florida once Tulane's season ends.

"We were pretty upfront with each other from the beginning," says Hall. "He's got the bigger budget, so obviously he leads the charge on that.

"He's working on '26 with Florida, I'm working on '26 with Tulane. More than that, we're working on '25 with Tulane. We really want to win this game. We're in the national spotlight and it could project us even further forward with a win."

Tulane's first-round CFP matchup Saturday at No. 6 Ole Miss is a rematch of a Week 4 meeting that the Rebels dominated 45-10. Tulane struggled to create separation at receiver, lost battles on the perimeter on defense and had difficulty containing quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who ran for 112 yards and threw for 307 more.

"We played about as rotten as we could play," says Sumrall. "We need to play to our standard."

One major difference this time: Lane Kiffin will not be on the Ole Miss sideline. He's now at LSU after a dramatic, messy exit from Oxford. Defensive coordinator Pete Golding was elevated to head coach, and several of Kiffin's future LSU staffers, including offensive coordinator Charlie Weiss Jr., remain on loan to the Rebels through the postseason.

"They've got a lot more stability for the game than people realize. They're going to be who they've been; they're just not going to have Lane on the sideline," says Sumrall, pausing before releasing a chuckle. "I've reached out to Lane to see if he wants to sit in our coaches' box for the game, but he hasn't given me an answer yet."

Sumrall's investment in Tulane extends beyond the sideline. On Monday, he pledged $100,000 to Tulane's Green Wave Talent Fund to support its NIL efforts. The decision was months in the making, well before Sumrall's job prospects landed him in the SEC.

"I wasn't surprised when he shared that he still intended to make that gift," Harris says. "He's always been a man of his word."

"He knows when he comes back to New Orleans, he's going to be able to pop in," says Hall. "A lot of times people don't realize that you do care about where you're leaving. There are still good people in this profession and he's one of the good people."

If you're curious, Sumrall says he has already mapped out how he would manage Tulane and Florida if the Green Wave keeps winning.

"It could be chaos, but it's good chaos. I'm not going to complain, dude," says Sumrall. "I've got an awesome situation, and if we're fortunate enough to come out the other side of it and get the outcome we desire, I'll gladly do both jobs for the duration of this process. Is that chaotic and a little bit nuts? Yeah. Is it something I'm gonna whine and complain about? Hell no, man. 

"I've got a great opportunity with both situations right in front of me and I want to coach this team at Tulane as long as I can to give them every opportunity to be successful."

On his way out the door, Sumrall endorsed his offensive coordinator as his successor, kept a 14-player signing class intact and donated $100,000 to Tulane's NIL fund — all in an effort to keep a program that has reached four straight American championship games rolling.

What happens next on the field remains to be seen.

"How you enter a place matters," says Sumrall, "and how you leave it matters just as much if not more."