GAINESVILLE, Fla. — In his brief time as Florida’s head coach, Jon Sumrall has turned up the intensity. He is pushing the Gators to be competitive in every aspect as they prepare for the start of spring camp.

Special teams included.

Sumrall brought Jonathan Galante across the Gulf with him to serve as his special-teams coordinator, the same role Galante held at Tulane last season.

Galante brings varied experience to Florida, having spent eight years coaching special teams across four different teams in four different conferences, including the Southeastern Conference.

 

A former outside linebacker at Virginia Tech, Galante became a special-teams graduate assistant for the Hokies from 2017-2018, before joining Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama as a special-teams analyst from 2019-2022, and then he ended up as Marshall’s special-teams coordinator from 2022-2024.

Before the 2025 season, Sumrall was searching for a new special-teams coordinator at Tulane when he landed on Galante, a native of Blacksburg, Virginia, through word of mouth.

“I did not know Coach [Sumrall] until last year when he called me,” Galante said. “He really hired me on recommendation, and he interviewed me. We had not met before that, but I knew of him; I don’t know if he knew of me. I knew of him; he’s got a reputation in the coaching business for winning, obviously, but being extremely tough and great to work for. I’ve enjoyed my time with him so far.”

Galante said he thinks the recommendation came from multiple people, but that Sumrall knew the coach he worked under at Marshall and called him, among others.

In his first year working with Sumrall, Galante made a notable impression. His Green Wave unit ranked ninth in the country in the ESPN efficiency rankings, 14th in the ESPN SP+ rankings, and 20th in the SFEI rankings, according to Galante’s bio.

With his immediate results at Tulane, he was named a Broyles Award nominee, the annual award for college football’s top assistant coach. The Gators improved on special teams under former assistant Joe Houston, including blocking a punt against Texas last season that led to a safety and helped UF pull off its biggest win of the 2025 season. Houston is now at LSU.

Meanwhile, Galante does not take all the credit for Tulane’s success a season ago. He said that Sumrall is very in tune with his blueprint, which charges performance in all phases.

“It’s great because he is involved,” Galante said. “Any good special-teams coach wants their head coach involved. He’s involved in everything in our program, but he’s definitely involved in special teams. He loves special teams, has a passion for it. That’s why it was an easy opportunity to take with him last year at Tulane, because he is invested in special teams. And you know, that’s critical for my success and our team’s success on special teams. It’s a big deal. Maybe the biggest thing.”

In his role, Galante wants to be aggressive and swing momentum whenever he gets the chance. From the return game to a blocked kick.

In the return game specifically, don’t expect to see the Gators wave their arms in the air signaling a fair catch too often.

“Our philosophy will be to return the ball when it’s in the field of play,” Galante said. “The opportunities are less frequent, but we still want to take advantage of that. We’d like to put one in the end zone. That, again, is a huge change of momentum in the football game if you can score on special teams. We’d love to do that.”

When one thinks of aggressiveness on special teams, their mind might immediately gravitate toward fakes. While it is just an added facet, Tulane did run a couple in 2025.

“I love them,” Galante said of fake field goals and punts. “You may want to ask Coach’s philosophy on them. Those are his decisions. We always want to look for opportunities every week to steal a possession in the kicking game. He loves them. We ran one last year, we ran two last year at Tulane. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t, sometimes it’s good to have it on film. We go through him on that, but we always want to be opportunistic in that area of the kicking game.”

Both of the plays were field goal fakes that were unsuccessful, but Galante doesn’t seem discouraged.

UF kicker Patrick Durkin and punter Alec Clark, who shared success during Tulane’s run to the College Football Playoff, followed Sumrall and Galante to Florida.

Durkin ranked tied for third in the country in field goals made (25) and No. 15 in field goal percentage (89.3%, 25 for 28), leading him to be named American Athletic Conference Special Teams Player of the Year and a freshman All-American. Clark ranked No. 11 in the country in average yards per punt (46.5) and tied for No. 15 in longest punt (70 yards).

Despite having two solidified specialists following him in his role at a new school, Galante’s depth chart is wide open. He has echoed Sumrall’s ideal of competition.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s a huge pillar for Coach Sumrall. Competition in our program,” Galante said. “So, it will be the same in that room. There won’t be a named starter right now. We’ve got guys with experience, we’ve got guys with plenty of talent, but they’ll compete every day.”

With the names scattered around the depth chart, waiting to be pulled up and put into place, Galante seems confident, emphasizing talent and experience.

“I mean, we’ve got a good room overall,” Galante said. “There’s not a second portal window, so we’ve got what we’ve got, and we can work with them now all the way up until the season. That’s exciting.”

Galante won’t just play for the present and for the future; he plays for those in the past. He acknowledges the history of special teams at Florida, mentioning former players who have played in the pros and Urban Meyer-era special-teams units.

“Great pride. This place has a history of tradition for winning, but when it comes down to special teams here,” Galante said. “There’s a history of tradition for great specialists.”