GAINESVILLE — After Jon Sumrall went outside to hire his coordinators, Florida’s new head coach turned familiar faces to fill out his growing Gators’ staff.
Sumrall will bring several assistant coaches, including former UF linebacker Bam Hardmon, from Tulane. A day after the Green Wave fell 41-10 at Ole Miss during the opening round of the CFP, Sumrall’s staff began to quickly crystallize during a busy first day as Florida’s full-time coach.
A source confirmed Joe Craddock will work with quarterbacks, after serving as Tulane’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach the past two seasons, Hardmon and Greg Gasparato will coach Florida linebackers and Johnathan Galante will oversee special teams following a highly successful 2025 season after he came from Marshall. Green Wave offensive line coach Evan McKissack also will join the staff in an undefined role, given the recent hire of former Florida left tackle Phil Trautwein after six seasons at Penn State.
The Orlando Sentinel first reported Rusty Whitt will serve as strength and conditioning coordinator. The 54-year-old held the position the past four seasons under Sumrall as Troy (2022-23) and Tulane (2024-25) compiled a 43-12 and won three conference titles, including a an 11-3 record in 2025 as American Conference champions.
Craddock, 40, helped develop Darrian Mensah into a top quarterback as a redshirt freshman at Tulane before he transferred to Duke, where he threw for 30 touchdowns in 2025. BYU transfer Jake Retzlaff had a solid season as he led the Green Wave to the CFP, where he finished 20-of-35 for 306 yards, a touchdown and an interception against Ole Miss.
Craddock will help offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner develop Trammel Jones Jr., who will compete for the starting job as a redshirt freshman, and 4-star prospect Will Griffin after a record-setting career at Tampa Jesuit. UF is expected to add another quarterback from the transfer portal, potentially Georgia Tech transfer Aaron Philo after two seasons working with Faulkner as a backup.
Craddock was a two-year starter at Middle Tennessee State, where he spent four seasons (2004-08). He served as Sumrall’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2022-23 at Troy, winners of the 2022 and 2023 Sun Belt Conference crowns. Quarterback Gunnar Watson threw 27 touchdown passes and just six interceptions in 2023 after recording 14 touchdown throws and 12 picks in 2022.
Hardmon, who will work with outside linebackers, and Gasparato, who will coach inside ‘backers, were together the past two seasons in New Orleans.
Working under defensive coordinator Brad White, Hardmon and Gasparato will oversee a unit spearheaded by Gators’ defensive leader Myles Graham, who as a sophomore led the team with 76 tackles and seven quarterback hurries, along with four pass breakups. In addition to Graham, a promising linebacking group features Aaron Chiles, a versatile defender at 6-foot-2 ½, 244 pounds who recorded 52 stops as a sophomore, and rising senior Jaden Robinson, who had 102 tackles, including 7.5 for loss.
Hardmon, who played at UF from 1999-2002, recorded 168 tackles his final season, ranking fourth all-time for a single season at Florida.
Under the 44-year-old Jacksonville native, Sam Howard became a force.
A former walk-on at Austin Peay, Howard had 112 tackles the past two seasons, including five against Ole Miss, including 1.5 for loss (one sack). Howard missed two games with a fracture fibula suffered Oct. 9 against East Carolina. Incredibly, he returned to record a sack during a 38-34 win at Memphis.
Gasparato served as Tulane’s defensive coordinator and safeties the past two seasons.
Tulane ranked 30th nationally in run defense (120.3 yards per game), tied for 23rd in tackles for loss (81) and 19th with 34 sacks. The Green Wave tied for 10th with 24 takeaways.
In 2024, Tulane was second in the American Conference (18th nationally) in third-down defense (32.95% conversion rate). The ’24 Green Wave allowed opponents to score touchdowns at 47.73% rate, ranking second in the AAC and 12th nationally.
Gasparato followed Sumrall from Troy, where he was the Trojans’ defensive coordinator in 2023, when the Trojans yielded an average of 17.1 points (10th nationally) and 308.1 yards (14th) while setting a conference record with 47 sacks.
Galante arrived at Tulane following three seasons at Marshall and became an nominee for the 2025 Broyles Award, given to the nation’s top assistant coach.
Placekicker Patrick Durkin was named the American Conference’s Special Teams Player of the Year after making 24-of-27 field goals attempt. A rising redshirt sophomore, Durkin tied second nationally in made field goals while also he ranked fifth with 66 touchbacks (on 77 kicks).
Punter Alec Clark led the AAC with an average of 46.82 yards on 45 attempts, including 15 inside the 20-yard line. Clark followed Galante from Marshall and has two seasons of remaining eligibility.
Whitt, who will replace Tyler Miles, aims continue a fruitful like-minded approach with Sumrall, who is known for physical hard-nosed teams.
Whitt also spent a season (2019) at Army-West Point under Jeff Monken after three seasons at Texas Tech (2016-18) preceded by six (2010-15) at Louisiana-Lafayette.
The Azle, Texas native served 2003 to 2009 as a communication sergeant in the 10th Special Forces Group of the U.S. Army. He was awarded the combat infantryman’s badge (2007), two Iraqi campaign medals, and the Army commendation medal with valor.
Prior to his military service, Whitt, a former safety at Abilene Christian in 1990-94, worked at Sam Houston State (1998-2003) under legendary coach K.C. Keeler.
Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com