Jon Sumrall walked into his first SEC Media Days as Florida's head coach on Wednesday in Tampa. He had a lot to say about the Gators heading into 2026, but what happened when a photographer's phone went off mid-press conference went a lot viral.

"You would be kicked out of our team meeting. I swear," Sumrall said at the SEC Media Days press conference. "You're lucky I'm not going to throw this freaking podium right now. That drives me crazy."

Sumrall said he chose not to call the photographer out by name because he did not want to embarrass anyone any further.

"You know, like, Lane and I are friends. And Lane and I talked several times through the process of October, November about what it was looking like for both of our schedules of how things were going to unfold." Sumrall said at the SEC Media Days press conference.

What made it more interesting was what Sumrall was talking about at the exact moment it happened. He was in the middle of describing a private conversation he had with LSU's Lane Kiffin about what November looks like for coaches whose seasons hang in the balance.

The internet split almost immediately. Some found it funny and refreshing. Others thought it crossed a line. Former college basketball coach Tom Crean publicly criticized Sumrall on social media, calling the reaction out of order.

"He can’t be serious on embarrassing that person," Crean wrote on X. "Do you think they meant for the Phone to go off? Did it really need that performative reaction?"

Sumrall responded on X to Crean directly that same night and cleared it up.

"You are right, Tom. I wasn't serious. I was joking," Sumrall wrote on social media.

Sumrall got the Florida job after taking Tulane to the College Football Playoff in December 2025. It was one of the most talked-about coaching hires of the offseason for a program moving on from Billy Napier.

Jon Sumrall had plenty of serious things to say about Florida’s 2026 season too

The phone moment was funny, but it was not the whole story. Sumrall covered real ground at that press conference.

He brought up the fact that Florida will not play Tennessee or LSU this season. That is not normal for this program.

SEC expansion broke a 35-year streak. Florida and Tennessee are not meeting on the field in 2026 for the first time in 36 years.

"We don't play Tennessee this year," Sumrall said at the same press conference. "Like, who would've thought ten years ago that Florida was playing Texas for the third year in a row and not playing Tennessee?"

Florida opens the 2026 season on September 5. Sumrall is now out of his first SEC Media Days and into fall camp preparation.

What do you think about Sumrall's reaction to the phone going off? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Farheen Fathima

Edited by

Zaid Quraishi