He was an intense competitor when he played linebacker at Kentucky and Jon Sumrall even led the team in tackles with 72 his senior season in 2004.
Sumrall, an Alabama native, also had an engaging personality and a terrific football instincts, two traits that have served him well in his coaching career that now has him back at Kentucky as the linebackers coach.
I can remember when Sumrall was assistant head coach at Troy from 2015-17 under Neal Brown, now the head coach at West Virginia, and how Brown raved both about his coaching and recruiting skills. Obviously, Kentucky coach Mark Stoops liked what he saw — as well as Sumrall’s familiarity with the UK program — to add him to the UK staff last month.
“The University of Kentucky means a lot to me,” Sumrall said. “I had the opportunity to play here. To be able to wear the UK logo on my chest gives me a little extra juice. I’m already a fiery, emotional coach, but it gives me a little extra excitement. That had a definite pull.”
Sumrall has been defensive coordinator at San Diego and Tulane and was also linebackers coach at Mississippi last year, so he has one year of SEC coaching experience. He was at Troy in 2017 when the Trojans were ranked high defensively in several categories, won 11 games and beat LSU on the road.
Stoops was a defensive coordinator at Florida State when he was hired at Kentucky. He didn’t know Sumrall personally when he started a coaching search after Matt House left the UK staff to join the Kansas City Chiefs but the UK coach clearly liked what he saw in Sumrall — and the feeling was mutual.
“Coach Stoops and what he’s accomplished here and what he’s building here speaks for itself,” Sumrall said. “The opportunity to be a part of that and help build upon what they’ve been doing, couple that with the opportunity to come to where I played, was something I just couldn’t turn down.”
Former NFL assistant coach Brad White was elevated from linebacker coach to defensive coordinator when House left and Sumrall will be working under White as well as Stoops. White says Sumrall is a “phenomenal” coach who fits well with UK’s defensive staff.
“They’re all really really good technicians in terms of what they’re teaching their position groups. I think we have really good coaches, teacher s communicators,” White said.
What Sumrall also provides, though, is a dynamic recruiter on the defensive side who has connections across the south.
Sumrall played under coach Rich Brooks at Kentucky and worked one year as a graduate assistant coach for Brooks.
“Coach Brooks had a humongous impact on who I am as a person and a football coach,” Sumrall said.
The new UK linebacker coach says it has been fun to watch Stoops build the program much the same way that Brooks did.
“They weren’t looking for an overnight quick fix. They did things sort of blue-collar, tough, hard-nosed,” Sumrall said. “Just kind of consistent, daily process and driven.
“I see a ton of carryover and a lot of similarities, which is really fun for me because I had the opportunity to see how coach Brooks did it and see the way coach Stoops is doing it. It’s really neat to see how similar it is.”