Over the past week, three other American Athletic Conference head coaches moved from the Group of Five to a Power Four school: the Arkansas Razorbacks took Ryan Silverfield from the Memphis Tigers; the Auburn Tigers acquired Alex Golesh from the South Florida Bulls; Oklahoma State hired Eric Morris out of the North Texas Mean Green.
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After these events, The Athletic’s Matt Baker began wondering how these various hires compared and presented his findings in a column about who got the best new HC.
Overall record
To start, Baker looked at the four coaches’ overall record, which Sumrall led with a combined 42-11 mark (.792) between his two years with the Troy Trojans and Tulane Green Wave.
“The only active FBS coaches with a better winning percentage than Sumrall are Ryan Day, Dan Lanning, Kirby Smart and Curt Cignetti,” he notes. “Very good company.”
By comparison, Silverfield was 50-24 (.676) at Memphis, Golesh was 23-15 (.605) at USF and Morris was 22-15 (.595) at North Texas.
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Conference registration
Next, Baker took a look at the conference records of each of the respective new hires, which the Gators’ new captain once again dominated. Again, between Troy and Tulane, he compiled a brilliant 28-4 (.875) record over those four years.
“Sumrall also has a clear advantage here, going 7-1 in conference play each season. It won the Sun Belt in both of its seasons in Troy, made the U.S. title game last year and is in the championship game again this time. It’s hard to argue with those results.”
Meanwhile, Golesh posted a 14-10 (.583) record, while Silverfield compiled a 27-21 (.563) mark, followed by Morris’ 13-11 (.541) record.
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Record against Power 4 opponents
However, their next query (success against Power Four programs) found Sumrall in the middle of the pack. He was just 2-6 in big games, which trails Silverfield’s 5-2 record and Golesh’s 2-4 record, but is still better than Morris’ 0-2 record.
“Sumrall also came close against a good team; he led No. 17 Kansas State in the fourth quarter last September. Two of his losses came in Troy, and another was in last season’s Gasparilla Bowl against his new team, Florida,” Baker notes.
“Sumrall has the most interesting win on this list, a 34-27 win this season over potential ACC champion Duke and quarterback Darian Mensah, who started for Sumrall’s Green Wave last year.”
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Record against each other
As for how each coach has fared against the other over the years? Silverfield’s 6-1 record eclipses Sumrall’s 3-1 mark; Golesh is just 1-4 in those games, while Morris is winless in four tries. But Sumrall defeated the other three trainers.
Talent acquisition
Perhaps the most important segment here is talent acquisition. “The last recruiting cycle (Class of 2025) provides the best apples-to-apples comparison because all four coaches had been in the conference for at least a year, so there were no outliers in transitional classes,” Baker notes.
“The Silverfield Tigers were the best of the bunch in both high school recruiting and transfers… Golesh and Sumrall were next (USF had the best high school class, Tulane had the best portal haul).”
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the verdict
“Sumrall has punched at or above his weight at two programs. Even if we focus only on his tenure at Tulane, he has the best overall and conference record. Getting wins over each of the other three coaches also helps,” Baker offers.
“Because coaching hires are a game of chance, there’s no guarantee he’ll end up the best of the bunch. Perhaps Florida fans’ concerns about Billy Napier 2.0 will prove justified. But his results so far give him the best chance of success.”
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida football’s Jon Sumrall hiring compared to other AAC head coaches